


lovesick lovers, got me sick of love!

by spider_momo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Catboy Kozume Kenma, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Light Angst, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Romance, Witch Yachi Hitoka, also temporarily unrequited love, because he's yachi's familiar hehe, but kuroo uses his for evil (capitalism), if cottagecore and witchcore had a baby it'd be yachi in this fic, long and silly chapter titles, minor verbal abuse directed at One (1) bird, somewhat unrequited love, sugawara & kuroo are the only ones in possession of braincells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29719983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spider_momo/pseuds/spider_momo
Summary: Yachi's (well-meaning) mother sends her a (somewhat illegal) love potion that is accidentally (thanks Kenma) baked into a blueberry pie by one oblivious Hinata Shoyo & later sold to three unfortunate gentlemen: Oikawa, Atsumu, & Kageyama.And so, as Hinata's batch of pretty gentlemen callers do their best to woo him over, Yachi is (expectedly) freaking out, Kuroo (that filthy capitalist) is enjoying the free gifts & boost in sales, and Kenma (who still pleads innocent) is at war with a very persistent crow...
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Yachi Hitoka, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Yachi Hitoka, Kozume Kenma & Yachi Hitoka, background Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, onesided Miya Atsumu/Hinata Shouyou, onesided Oikawa Tooru/Hinata Shouyou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 104
Collections: BHF, Haikyuu Big Bang 2020





	1. Yachi’s Distress: Love Potion in the Pie!?

**Author's Note:**

> here it is my HQBB fic wow I feel like I've been working on this for so long I'm so excited to finally be able to post it.
> 
> (why i decided to shove like 7 separate tropes together into one longass fic, idk but i did it and it was so fun lol)
> 
> thank you so much to Emma for creating this [this lovely art piece](https://chellesarts.tumblr.com/post/644210295293771776/my-piece-for-the-hqbb-read-spider-momo-s) & for hyping my writing up the whole way through <3
> 
> thank you to [@slainephoto](https://twitter.com/slainephoto) for being my beta for me in such a pinch!!! & also thank you to the HQBB mods for all their hard work I loved being a part of this event!
> 
> okie! hope you all enjoy~

Like most disasters in Yachi’s life, it begins with her mother. 

Her mother operates on a totally different wavelength than Yachi. Yachi dreams about what it’s like to just _do_ things without frantically overthinking every possible outcome. Her mother is just like that; all womanly confidence and bold decisiveness. It made her a successful businesswoman but perhaps a less attentive mother. Because while Yachi is completely certain her mother is trying to be caring and well-meaning, she is also fairly certain she’s about to have an aneurysm. 

“How could she send this to me?” Yachi makes a strangled sound as she tries her best not to let out any loud, panicked screams. “ _Why_ would she send this to me?” 

Yachi’s eyes scan the card sent along with the package, nearly giving herself a papercut when she rushes to pick up the thick cardstock. 

In her mother’s slanted and thick handwriting, the card read:

_My dearest Hitoka-chan,_

_I hope you’re doing well in Miyagi. That crooked landlord of yours better not be taking advantage of you. A client of mine had sent this to me as a gift but I believe you will find much more use out of it than me. Remember darling, you’re not getting any younger!_

_Love,_ _  
_ _Your Mother XOXO_

Succinct and to the point. Very much like her mother. 

Yachi eyes the contents of the package again, pushing aside the pink tissue paper. In the centre of the box lies an ornate glass bottle, closed tight with a heart-shaped cork. The liquid inside is a dark purple-pink colour, slightly shimmery, and looking rather viscous when Yachi tilts the bottle around. If the design of the bottle isn’t a big enough giveaway already, a slightly faded tag hangs from the neck, and in glossy print is labelled: _Love Potion No. 9_. 

She can feel the stress flooding through her veins. _This is not good_. If someone sees her with this potion Yachi is sure it’s going to cause a lot of trouble. For herself especially. Obviously, the only rational thing to do in this scenario is to dump that shit down the drain before anyone sees it. 

Yachi shoves the small bottle into the waistband of her pink pyjama bottoms, using the oversized sweater she has on to conceal the bump. She leaves behind the packaging and note in her room and heads down the stairs into the main kitchen. It’s late in the evening so she’s fairly certain the work kitchen will be empty right now. 

Yachi quietly approaches the kitchen doors, leaning against the door jamb and peeking her head inside. She sighs in relief when she sees it is empty. She sees a few ingredients and bowls out already though. Hinata must already be starting to prep for tomorrow. Yachi better be quick if she wants to deal with this secretly. 

She stands in front of the deep stainless steel sinks, eyeing the potion one more time. She’s pretty sure it would sell for a solid amount at some shady market. 

Yachi shakes her head— there is no way she’s keeping this thing, to sell or to use. Better to get rid of it and pretend it never happened.

(Because who needs mature coping mechanisms when you have denial?)

Yachi clasps the bottle with one hand and the cork with the other and pulls, struggling a little. Finally, the cork comes off with a _pop!_ and a fruity scent wafts into the air. Yachi is pretty sure love potions only work after digesting them but she plugs her nose with her thumb and index finger anyway. 

_Bye-bye, love potion,_ Yachi tips the bottle towards the sink and— 

“Yaaaaaaachi!” Yachi fumbles a bit, nearly dropping the bottle. “Yachi-san!”

Hinata’s bright head of orange hair appears at the door, “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you. Kuroo-san says we’re having a team meeting and told me to come get you because you weren’t answering your phone— _oh_ , whatcha got there?” 

“Nothing!” Yachi leaves the opened bottle on the shelf above the sink, wiping her sweaty hands on her pants. “Just came to get some blueberries!” She grabs a handful of the freshly washed berries sitting next to the sink, “Yum! Let’s go, we wouldn’t want to keep Kuroo-san waiting.” 

Hinata is thankfully distracted by the berries in Yachi’s hand, grabbing a few for himself, “Aren’t they so sweet? I was gonna make some pie with them later but then I got hungry, so Kenma and I went out for food and—” Yachi listens to Hinata chat away as they exit the kitchen, her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip with worry. 

_It’ll be fine. Just a quick meeting and then I’ll get rid of the evidence and no one will show up and arrest me and I won’t have to spend the rest of my life in magic prison with murderers and drug dealers and—_

“You’re here!” Yachi’s thoughts are disrupted by an eager Kuroo who’s standing at one end of their meeting room (which is actually just the first-floor bathroom that transforms into the meeting room when Kuroo brings a whiteboard in). Kenma has already taken his preferred seat (the tub) so Yachi sits on top of the toilet seat and Hinata hops up onto the sink counter. 

Kuroo, their magnanimous leader/boss, begins the meeting once they all arrive. He drones on about sales and seasonal produce. Yachi’s only half-listening, too busy trying to look as unsuspicious as possible, sweaty hands twisting the thin fabric of her pyjama pants, attempting to release some of her pent-up worries.

The meeting is nearing the end and Kuroo asks if they have any suggestions for improving the bakery, like he does every meeting. It’s mostly an empty gesture, one that allows Kuroo to segway into whatever hare-brained scheme he’s come up with this time. 

“Kenma! You need to start pulling your weight. You have way too much untapped potential,” Kuroo admonishes.

“I’m okay with underachieving,” Kenma says, sending a thumbs up in Kuroo’s direction.

“You hardly even stay in your cute cat form when customers come.”

“This is a bakery, not a cat cafe,” Kenma deadpans.

“Alright. If you don’t want strangers petting you, I have another idea!” Kuroo whips out a frilly-looking maid outfit, complete with a set of faux cat-ears.

“Kuroo-san…” Yachi is at a loss for words, momentarily forgetting her own struggles.

“Kenma, I bet we’d get way more customers if you wore that!” Hinata says gleefully, nearly toppling over as he shakes with laughter. 

Yachi watches as Kuroo creeps closer to Kenma, trying to coax him to try it on. Kenma hisses, back up as far as he can in the cramped bathtub. Hinata howls with laughter, urging Kenma to wear the outfit too. 

Right before Kuroo fully closes in on him, Kenma transforms into his cat form and makes his escape, dashing out the door as Kuroo chases him.

It’s a fairly normal way to end one of their meetings, if Yachi is being honest.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Yachi’s original plan had been to hightail it back to the kitchen and dispose of that damned potion and then maybe take a nap because it’s been a stressful hour and a half and she deserves it.

However, her plans are derailed by a sad-looking Cat-Kenma, covered in thorns, leaves, and dirt. He meows up at her dolefully, tail hanging between his legs and ears dropping against his head.

Kenma: 0, Prickly Bushes: 1. 

“You troublesome familiar,” Yachi sighs, scooping the small calico cat up gently so as not to aggravate his wounds. “What did I say about trying to escape from the balcony at night?”

She takes him to her bedroom and then into her tiny bathroom, setting him on top of the counter and pulling out her first aid kit.

Yachi tends to Kenma’s wounds, plucking thorns from his fur and putting ointment on his small scratches. She finishes by placing a Hello Kitty bandaid on his forehead just because. The small calico cat does not look so pleased. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Yachi chides, “If you don’t want to be stuck in your cat form be more careful not to get injured from now on. You’re lucky I didn’t tell Kuroo and Hinata what happened to you. You know they’d never stop teasing you about it.” 

Kenma meows at her, dejected and a little embarrassed. 

“You’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Yachi promises, running her fingers along his spine, “They’re just a few small scratches. Get some rest and you’ll be good as new.” Speaking of rest, Yachi’s body suddenly feels sluggish and tired. She tucks away the first aid kit and flops down onto her bed, a large yawn escaping her mouth. 

Kenma looks morosely at his Nintendo Switch, meowing sadly at it. Unfortunately, cat paws just were not made for playing Animal Crossing. Since gaming is no longer an option, Kenma decides rest really is the only choice and hops up onto Yachi’s bed, curling up next to her chest. 

Yachi, with sleepy, jerky movements, tugs Kenma closer, snuggling up with her familiar. As she drifts off to dreamland, she can’t help but feel like she’s forgetting something. But the drowsiness in her mind and the soft warmth of Kenma lull her into a heavy sleep before she can remember what she’s forgetting. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

It’s during that dreamy, almost-awake state, when your mind is trying to remember why you even exist and need to wake up, that Yachi remembers that thing that she forgot last night but couldn’t remember if she was forgetting because she forgot she was supposed to remember to do it. 

“Oh, shit!” She bolts upright, eyes wide and panicked, hair a frizzy mess, clothes rumpled and skewed. 

Yachi rushes to get out of bed, stumbling into her fluffy bunny slippers and bolting out of her bedroom. She nearly trips and breaks her neck as she dashes down the rickety wooden stairs. She overslept. The sun was already up and the bakery was already open and ready for business. 

Yachi finally reaches the kitchen, pushing the doors open and throwing herself inside. She’s out of breath, inhaling sharply as she clutches at the cramping muscles at her side. The kitchen is already set up, cookie trays lined, and bread baking in the oven. 

Hinata, because he’s a wonderful and kind friend, must have let Yachi sleep in and taken over her morning prep. While Yachi is very touched and grateful, her mind is tunnel-visioned on her singular goal, which is a stepping stone in her larger, life-long goal of not getting shanked and bleeding out in prison. 

“No! _Nononononono…_ ” It’s empty. Well, almost empty. Yachi picks up the glass bottle, which only has a tiny amount of liquid left at the very bottom. She glances around the sink area, which is practically spotless. _Did someone drain it already? Or has it already been used?_

Yachi grabs the sink counter to steady herself. Her mind rapidly thinks of every scenario that could have played out, each one getting progressively worse.

This is it… This is where her life begins to go downhill. Someone’s going to find out about the love potion and then it’ll be traced back to her and the authorities will show up and take her magic license away and then lock her up and she’ll have to spend the rest of her life wearing ugly prison clothes and joining prison gangs so she doesn’t get killed in her sleep and— 

“Dude, are you okay?” Yachi whips around to see Kenma (now in human form) standing behind her. 

“Kenma…” Yachi's voice comes out choked and watery. She crouches to the floor, arms wrapping around her knees. Kenma kneels on the floor next to her, patiently waiting for her explanation. Yachi takes three deep breaths before turning to Kenma and explaining. 

“So, you know how my mother doesn’t understand personal boundaries—” 

After a quick but in-depth rehashing of the last 24 hours (and maybe a couple of ugly tears), Yachi looks expectantly at Kenma, hoping he knows what to do now. Kenma, unlike Yachi, has the wonderful ability to stay calm and collected during stressful times and Yachi is eternally grateful for his wisdom and poise during times like this.

“Damn, that’s messy.” 

“Kenma! Help!” Yachi clutches at his forearm, almost falling in her unstable squatting position. 

“Okay, relax. I mean we don’t actually _know_ what happened to the potion, right? So, that’s step one.” 

“Right. Okay,” Yachi rises to her feet, slightly unsteady.

“Just cast a replay spell,” Kenma suggests. “Easy enough, right?”

And Yachi does so, pointing her finger at the glass bottle and chanting the incantation. Pale blue light emanates from the potion bottle and a mirage-like shimmer appears in the kitchen, recreating the events that occurred around the bottle in the last day or so. 

Yachi first sees her own image, bringing in the love potion and uncorking it above the sink. She then leaves it on the shelf above the sink when Hinata pops in, the cork loosely put back on the neck of the bottle. The mirage fast-forwards, as the bottle remains untouched on the shelf for some time, before slowing down again. And then there’s Kenma, dashing into the kitchen. The small cat jumps up onto the countertop and then the shelf, heading for the kitchen window. In his hasty escape, Kenma’s tail flicks at the potion bottle, knocking it over. The contents leak out slowly, falling into the large bowl of blueberries below. The mirage fast forwards again, this time stopping a few hours later. Hinata returns and dumps the bowl of blueberries, now soaked in the love potion, into a pot and turns the heat on medium as he makes some pie filling. The mirage finally ends when Hinata pulls a freshly baked pie out of the oven, the blueish shimmer dissolving into the air.

“Huh,” Kenma nods after seeing what happened.

“ _Kenma_ …” Yachi is pretty sure she’s shaking right now.

“Okay, this might _look_ like my fault,” Kenma starts, “but if you think about it, it’s mostly yours. Don’t worry though, I’ll support you no matter what.” 

“Kenma!” Yachi latches onto the sleeve of Kenma’s sweater, whether to stop her hands from strangling him or to ground herself, she wasn’t sure.

“What are you guys doing?” Hinata pops into the kitchen, the sleeves of his white t-shirt rolled up past his shoulders and candy red apron tied around his waist. 

“The pie!” Yachi releases Kenma and rushes towards Hinata, “Did you sell anyone the blueberry pie?”

“Don’t worry,” Hinata assures her, “it’s been ages since I forgot to charge customers for stuff!” 

Yachi inhales sharply through her nose, trying her best not to break down. She’s clasping onto Hinata’s arms with more force than necessary, the pads of her fingers digging into his firm biceps. “So you did sell that pie? The pie you prepped for last night and baked this morning?” 

“...Yes?” Hinata nods, confused but very used to Yachi’s incoherent mumbling. 

“Uh oh,” Kenma sighs, digging through the refrigerator for a milk box. 

“Hm?” Hinata blinks, looking in Kenma’s direction.

“To whom?” Yachi shakes Hinata’s shoulders, “Who did you sell it to? How much? How long ago? Did you see them eating it?”

“Uhh,” Hinata pulls a face as he tries to recall. “Well, first Oikawa-san came in for the milk bread he ordered a few days ago and while I was ringing him up I was like ‘Hey, you wanna try some of this blueberry pie?’ and he said ‘Okay!’ so I sold him a slice. I think I saw him eat some before leaving. And then Atsumu-kun came in and complained about Osamu-kun for like 20 minutes and then said he needed something delicious to get him through the rest of the day so he bought some taiyaki and a slice of pie too and then ate it until Osamu-kun came and dragged him out. Then Kageyama-kun came in and was being super weird but it got kinda busy before I could ask him what’s wrong so I just sent him off with a complimentary slice since it’s his favourite, so he definitely ate it later. I’m pretty sure no one else bought any after that though.” 

Kenma walks back up to them, milk procured. He looks like he’s about to say something but closes his mouth, opting to give Hinata a gentle pat on the shoulder instead. 

“Oikawa-san, Atsumu-san, and Kageyama-kun,” Yachi recites, retracting her hands from Hinata’s biceps. “Would it work with that many people?” She locks eyes with Kenma.

Kenma shrugs, sipping his milk. 

“Would _what_ work?” Hinata asks.

“Maybe it doesn’t even work if it’s in pie anyway, right?” Yachi continues, feeling a bubble of hysteria rise in her chest. 

“What’s going on?” Hinata asks again, pouting slightly at being left out. Yachi looks back at Hinata, guilt washing over her. 

“Hinata-kun…” Yachi starts apologetically, heart hammering against her chest and lips trembling. 

“Wait,” Kenma steps in, his cool fingers wrapping around Yachi’s wrist. Yachi looks up into his sharp, golden eyes. Although they both were introverted and shy, Kenma is always calm and rational, whereas Yachi turns into a sweaty disaster. Yachi trusts Kenma with her life. Even now, here he is stepping in to help her—

“You should tell Kuro at the same time. I can’t sit through this again, I have a raid scheduled with Yaku and Tora.” 

“...I should have left you in the dumpster where I found you.”

“Yachi, please. We can only deal with one of your poor decisions at a time.”

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Fifteen minutes and a nerve-wracking explanation later, the four members of the bakery staff sit in Kuroo’s office (the upstairs living kitchen, which becomes Kuroo’s office when he sits at the head of their small dining table and replaces their centrepiece with the Brita filter pitcher), the near-empty love potion bottle neatly lined up next to the five-eighths of the remaining blueberry pie. 

“Hmmm,” Kuroo hums, chin resting in his palm as he squints at the two objects on the table. 

“It’s all my fault,” Yachi insists, for probably the seventh time already. She keeps her head down, eyes screwed shut, waiting for Kuroo’s response. 

“It’s not!” Hinata interjects, “It’s my fault too. I should’ve paid more attention.” 

“It’s my fault also,” Kenma adds dully, “But like, way less than you two, obviously.” 

“You’re sure that’s a real love potion?” Kuroo ignores them, pointing a finger at the bottle.

“Pretty sure,” Yachi nods, “My mother probably wouldn’t send it if she wasn’t sure herself.”

“Hmm,” Kuroo hums again, examining the tag around the bottle’s neck.

“I’m willing to accept whatever punishment, Kuroo-san! Please don’t punish Hinata-kun or Kenma though,” Yachi bows her head, nearly smashing her forehead on the edge of the table. Kuroo is quiet for another moment but Yachi is too nervous to look up and see his reaction. 

He’s firing her, isn’t he? Oh god, she’s gonna be fired but Kuroo-san doesn’t know how to tell her, that’s why he hasn’t said anything—

“2371,” Kuroo says eventually. Yachi looks up, blinking in confusion.

“2371?” Hinata questions. 

“Yachi, you owe me 2371 yen,” Kuroo leans back in his seat, crossing his arms. 

“Huh?” is all Yachi manages to say.

“The cost of the remaining pie we can’t sell and the wasted ingredients. I’ll be deducting it out of your next paycheque,” Kuroo stands up, yawning.

“You’re not firing me?” Yachi jumps to her feet. She’s so happy she thinks she may cry.

“Are you crazy?” Kuroo grabs her face, squishing her cheeks between his palms. “Who’s gonna make all our magical desserts otherwise? Those cupcakes that make your skin sparkle? Or that honey cake that cures sore throats? ”

“Oh, oh! And those singing taiyakis! Not to mention the special cinnamon buns you make,” Hinata adds, “I love those!”

“Yacchan,” Kuroo chides, shaking her head from right to left, “You’re an important part of this team. Got it?” He shakes her head up and down for her. 

“Kuroo-san...” Yachi’s heart feels touched. She silently promises to work even harder, so she doesn’t let her team down like this again. 

“That’s true and all,” Kenma drums his fingers against his cheek, slumped over in his seat, “but I hope you have an actual plan, Kuro. I don’t think I’d do well in prison.” Kenma nods towards the love potion and blueberry pie. 

“You would die very quickly,” Hinata nods solemnly. 

“No need to panic,” Kuroo releases Yachi. He grabs a kitchen towel and sits down again, picking the bottle up without getting his fingerprints on it, “What do you know about love potions?” He asks Yachi. 

“Not much,” Yachi confesses. “Mostly just things I’ve read in older texts. I’m not even sure what kind of love potion it is,” Yachi sits down again too, feeling more collected than she had all day, “It could be a dual-ingestion type or a love-at-first-sight type. Or some other, less common type.” 

“We’ll keep an eye on the three that ate the pie and we’ll get someone to take a closer look at the potion. Let’s not panic until we need to,” Kuroo advises. 

“It might not even work anyway. It’s gotta be pretty old, right?” Hinata leans in to get a closer look at the glass bottle.

“Exactly. It may just be that nothing happens at all and we can all continue with our merry lives,” Kuroo says with a wry smile.

“I mean, if that stuff is as old as you say, there is a good chance we may have given those guys some food poisoning,” Kenma points outs. 

“Which we will vehemently deny any responsibility for,” Kuroo promises. 

“Wah, Kuroo-san! You sound real shady when you say things like that,” Hinata says in awe. 

“Thank you!”

“That couldn’t possibly have sounded like a compliment to you…” 

“Hush, Kenma. We still have one last thing to do before this meeting is adjourned.”

“If you’re thinking about bringing the maid thing up again, I _will_ cough up a thousand hairballs on your bed.”

“Not that,” Kuroo waves again. “We should get rid of the rest of the evidence. Just in case, you know?”

“Shady.” 

“ _Super_ shady!”

“Just go get the stuff,” Kuroo rolls his eyes.

Their lunch break starts with Yachi calling for an emergency meeting and ends with the four of them standing on the rooftop, throwing the leftover blueberry pie into a trashcan and lighting it on fire. They all stand in a circle, watching the flickering flames grow and consume the pie, the burnt crisp slowly deteriorating into ashes. 

(Un)fortunately, this is not the first time they’ve ended their lunch break by incinerating something on the roof. Yachi should probably not feel as comforted by that fact as she is. 

“I have a good feeling that everything is going to be okay,” Hinata grins, the colour of the fire almost as bright as the joyful gleam in his eyes. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Everything (obviously) was not okay. 

It’s the next day and this time Yachi wakes up on time, right before sunrise. She makes herself a cup of tea and enjoys the pre-dawn view outside. She gets dressed, ties her apron tightly around her waist and gets to work. She spends the early morning baking bread and cookies, filling in tart crusts, piping icing on top of cupcakes, neatly arranging everything in the display cases.

The morning passes by quickly. Only a handful of customers come in so Kenma doesn’t need any help at the register. Yachi takes the time to set aside some cinnamon rolls that she infuses with a simple relaxation potion, as a gift to Hinata for covering her shift yesterday. Yachi puts in extra care while making them, making sure the spell is just right so Hinata can have a peaceful night of sleep. Finishing up, Yachi wraps the cinnamon rolls and sticks a note with a little doodle of Hinata on top, setting the dessert aside for Hinata to eat after his shift finishes. 

It’s almost 1 PM now so Yachi heads to the front, arriving just in time to see Ushijima carrying in boxes of fresh strawberries. 

“Wow!” Yachi skips up to the taller man, clasping her hands, “They look so perfect!” She praises, examining the perfectly shaped strawberries. “I wish I was as good at plant magic as you are, Ushijima-san.”

“I hope you find a good use for them,” Ushijima smiles at her, carrying the heavy boxes all the way to the back kitchen. 

“Strawberries!” Hinata cheers as he finishes tying his apron, getting ready for his afternoon shift. 

“There’s a few more boxes left.”

“I can get them!” Hinata offers, bouncing out the door. Ushijima and Yachi follow him (at a much calmer pace), friendly chatter springing between them. 

Ushijima has some spare time after his delivery so he takes a seat by the large windows as Yachi brings him some refreshments and snacks. Yachi is setting down a plate of fruit tarts (topped with the fresh strawberries that were just delivered) when she hears a commotion by the entrance. 

“It’s alright! I got it, I swear,” Hinata is carrying in the last few boxes of produce, expertly sidestepping Oikawa who stands in front of him, arms outstretched as if he’s offering to help. 

“Wow, Shoyo,” Oikawa praises, “You’re so strong!” 

“They’re not _that_ heavy,” Hinata laughs. 

“Oikawa-san,” Yachi wipes her hands down on her apron as she approaches him. “Should I pack you your regular order?” A box of milk bread and some jasmine milk tea. 

“Mmm, I think I want to try something new today.”

Yachi pauses. Oikawa, who has been a regular at their bakery for some time now, usually never deviates from his regular order. He only occasionally orders something else along with his milk bread and tea. She shakes her head; maybe he’s getting something for a friend. 

“Uh, what would you like to try?” Yachi asks, stepping behind the display counter. 

“Hmm,” Oikawa ponders, eyeing the desserts and sweets on display. “Shoyo!” He smiles, looking up when Hinata emerges from the back kitchen. “What do you recommend?” Yachi watches as Oikawa bats his eyelashes in Hinata’s direction, leaning against the counter and smiling lazily. 

“Uhh...” Hinata pauses, looking back and forth between Yachi and Oikawa. Yachi shrugs and leaves him to handle Oikawa’s order as she grabs a pitcher of iced tea to serve to Ushijima. 

“Is Oikawa alright?” Ushijima asks. Yachi follows the direction of his gaze to where Oikawa is dragging Hinata closer, pointing at various desserts and asking Hinata to describe them.

“What about this one, Shoyo?”

“Oh, that’s cotton cheesecake. It’s super light and fluffy, I bet you’d like it.”

“Whaaaat about…this one!” 

“That’s a donut, Oikawa-san. The sprinkles are cat-shaped though!” 

“Hmm...I think I want something _you_ made. I want something that Shoyo made with his own hands,” Oikawa lifts Shoyo’s hands up into his own, cupping them gently as he stares at Hinata. 

“Uhh…” Hinata flushes a vibrant pink, looking everywhere but at Oikawa. “I made banana bread earlier!” He blurts, extracting himself from Oikawa’s hands. “Banana bread is my specialty.”

“I’ll buy all of it,” Oikawa states immediately. 

“Huh? There’s like four loaves though…”

“If the man says he wants all of it, then pack all of it, Hinata!” Kuroo, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, claps Hinata on the back. Kuroo claims he has no magical abilities himself but Yachi is skeptical when seeing his ability to miraculously show up whenever money is involved.

“All four loaves?” Hinata raises an eyebrow at Oikawa. Oikawa nods enthusiastically, smiling brightly at Hinata. “O-okay then.” Hinata packs up all four loaves of banana bread. “That’ll be 2700 yen, please.”

Oikawa taps his credit card to pay before leaving a generous cash tip in the jar on the front counter. “Bye-bye,” he waves, carrying his boxes of bread, “I’ll see you soon, Shoyo!”

“That was...weird,” Ushijima settles on. Yachi laughs nervously, shoving a fruit tart in her mouth before she blurts out something incriminating. From behind, she hears Kuroo praise Hinata for making a good sale while Hinata remains baffled.

“Is the banana bread that good?” Ushijima muses, taking a sip of his iced tea.

“Of course it is. Shoyo’s the best at making bread!” Bless Kuroo and his inability to miss an opportunity to schmooze. Yachi is only half-listening to Kuroo answering Ushijima’s questions about wheat quality and banana-to-nut ratios, her mind busy replaying Oikawa’s strange interaction with Hinata. 

Before she can think too deeply about it, the bells chime as the front door is opened. 

“Yacchan! You ready to trade?” Yachi stands up, smiling as she goes to greet the newcomer.

“Osamu-san, it smells so good!” Yachi accepts the package of onigiri, setting it down on one of the unoccupied tables. Miya Osamu operates the onigiri shop across the street so employees from both shops were quite familiar with each other. Yachi and Osamu have a weekly custom in which Osamu brings some delicious onigiri for everyone and, in return, Yachi gives him a box of assorted sweets and some taiyaki for his brother, Atsumu. 

“Whatcha got for me this time?” Osamu asks, sitting down and unpacking the rice balls.

“Hang on. I have everything wrapped up in the back,” Yachi dashes to the back kitchen to grab the specially wrapped box. This time she had packed an assortment of macarons, several different flavours lined up neatly. Returning to the storefront, Yachi sees the other Miya twin loitering around the front counter. 

“Atsumu-san,” Yachi bows her head in greeting. “I used that playlist you sent me to make some singing taiyakis for you. I have them all packed up here—” 

Yachi pauses when she realizes Atsumu is hardly paying any attention to her. She peaks over the counter to see what could have stolen his attention. 

“Shoyo- _kun,_ ” Atsumu drawls, leaning over the counter to get a better look at Hinata who was restocking the paper bags. “Did you miss me?”

“I saw you like, yesterday,” Hinata replies, still digging around beneath the counter.

“That’s so long!” Atsumu cries. “I missed _you_ ,” he adds childishly, pouting as he sags against the countertop. “Come out and eat, would ya?” 

“I’m working, Atsumu-kun,” Hinata huffs out a laugh, standing upright. 

“What about your lunch break?” Atsumu continues to wheedle, “I brought some fresh onigiri with your name on it.”

“I already had lunch,” Hinata rolls his eyes, smiling, “Jeez, you don’t usually come and bother me at work until the evening. Both you and Oikawa—” Hinata stops himself like he’s pausing to consider something. He glances over to Yachi and they lock eyes for a second. Yachi and Hinata have been friends for such a long time, it only takes half a second for them to both realize they’re having the same realization. 

“Osamu-san!” Yachi practically shouts. “Here’s your desserts!” She shoves the package into Osamu’s arms. “Thank you so much for the onigiri. We’ll enjoy them greatly, I’m sure. Your break is probably over soon so I won’t keep you waiting anymore,” Yachi says in a frantic hurry. 

Osamu (bless his soul) doesn’t hang around any longer or question Yachi’s sudden bout of weirdness. 

“See ya later,” He waves with a kind smile. “Oi, ‘Tsumu! Let’s go.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Atsumu waves a hand, not taking his eyes off Hinata, who looks rather awkward and nervous. “I’m hanging out with Shoyo-kun. Go on without me.”

“Quit bothering people while they’re working,” Osamu scolds, dragging Atsumu by the back of his collar, all the way to the door. 

“Bye, Shoyo-kun! I’ll be back later!” Atsumu calls out. Yachi’s fake smile finally drops when the twins are out of sight. She feels herself deflate a little, grabbing onto the edge of the counter to steel herself.

“Yachi…” Hinata looks at her, a little panicked and a little weary and honestly, _same, Hinata-kun._

“Did you guys do something?” Ushijima asks. _Crap_ , Yachi had forgotten he was still here. “Everyone is acting very...odd today.” Yachi rushes over and sits in the seat across from him. Hinata stands behind her, hands on her shoulder and they both lean in closer to whisper at Ushijima. They pause, looking at Kuroo for a second. Kuroo rolls his eyes and makes some excuse about having spreadsheets to look at and disappears. Yachi and Hinata promptly return their attention back to Ushijima. 

“You’re here often, Ushijima-san,” Yachi says, carefully choosing her words. Ushijima nods at her, face as impassive as ever. “Would you say Oikawa-san’s and Atsumu-san’s behaviour was out of the ordinary?”

“But,” Hinata butts in before Ushijima can respond, “Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun aren’t really normal _ever_. They’re both, uh, what’s that word? Flammable?”

“...Flamboyant?” Yachi asks, eyes looking upwards even though she can’t really see Hinata.

“Yeah, that!” Hinata nods, his chin brushing against the side of Yachi’s head. 

“Both your statements are true,” Ushijima agrees, “But they both seemed rather fixated on Hinata.” Yachi tilts her head up to get a proper look at Hinata as she’s sure they have identical expressions of panic on their faces. 

“I didn’t forget your birthday or anything, did I?” Ushijima asks Hinata, slightly amused.

“Nope!” Hinata grins, fidgeting with nervous energy. “Just a weird day I guess.” Ushijima stays silent, sipping his iced tea. Yachi watches droplets of condensation slip down the side of the glass. Her mouth feels uncomfortably dry right now.

“Whatever is going on, I’d get help. If it’s just the two of you...it’s bound to get worse,” Ushijima says finally, setting his glass down. “No offence,” he adds as an afterthought.

“None taken,” Yachi and Hinata mumble dully. Hinata sags against Yachi, his chin resting on top of her head, as they both stare ahead glumly. 

“I should get going now. Thank you for the iced tea and fruit tarts,” Ushijima grabs his things and gets up. Hinata and Yachi wave him a half-hearted goodbye. 

“I guess he’s right. Kuroo-san also said we should get someone to examine the potion.”

“I know,” Yachi sighs, “I just don’t like the idea of involving more people. But I guess it can’t be helped if other people are seeing what we’re seeing.”

“Don’t worry, Yachi,” Hinata gives her a comforting squeeze, “We’ll get through this together!”

“Thanks, Hinata-kun,” Yachi smiles. Hinata’s optimistic presence helps lift Yachi’s deflated spirits a little. 

She stands up, ready to get back to work, when a figure at the edge of the room catches her eye. Yachi looks to the left to see a sleepy Kenma emerging from the stairwell, “Yachi... food…” 

“Where have you been? You disappeared and missed half your shift,” Yachi scolds but goes to get him some onigiri anyway. 

“I went to take a quick nap but I couldn’t fall asleep. This damn crow was being so loud, right outside the window,” Kenma pouts, sitting on the chair and nibbling on his onigiri. “I was gonna chase it away, show it who’s boss, you know? But I got hungry…”

“Kenma, you’ve never chased anything in your whole life,” Hinata giggles.

“I’m a pacifist.”

“I’ve seen you play video games. Pacifist my ass,” Kuroo scoffs, returning from who-knows-where. He takes a seat at the table and grabs some onigiri, as well. Their bickering continues, Hinata laughing and commenting every now and then, while Yachi excuses herself to go make a call. 

“Senpai,” she can’t help but whine a little, “I need your help.”

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> will yachi's senpai be able to save them?? wait and see!
> 
> next update will be in a few days (all 4 chapters are completed already)
> 
> thank you for reading! i had so much fun writing this i hope you guys enjoyed it!  
> comments/kudos are much appreciated! <3
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/petiteshoyo)


	2. A Courting Competition! The Priceless Prize of Hinata Shoyo’s Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who left comments/kudos!
> 
> enjoy!

“Suga-senpai…?” Yachi asks hesitantly, her voice coming out as a weak croak. 

“Where’d you say you got this from again?” Sugawara briefly glances in Yachi’s direction before refocusing on the steaming cauldron in front of him.

“My mother got it as a gift from some rich old lady…” Yachi stares at the clouds of steam and smoke rising from the small cauldron. Various other herbs and potions are spread across the counter. Kenma, Hinata, and she watch Sugawara use an eyedropper to add different ingredients into the pot, occasionally taking notes every now and then.

“It’s definitely a love potion. And it was definitely still potent when it was used.” 

“ _ Accidentally _ used,” Kenma corrects, shovelling a forkful of apple pie into his mouth.

“By you?” Sugawara raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. 

“It was more of a team effort,” Kenma sulks, putting his hood up and tugging on the strings.

“So, the love potion ended up...working?” Yachi bites her lip.

“Yeah. And pretty well judging by your descriptions.”

“But why me?” Hinata asks. “It’s not like I was the first person they saw after eating the pie?”

“Not all love potions work like that,” Sugawara explains. “This one,” he lifts up the empty bottle, “is a pretty powerful and complex potion. And pretty intuitive.”

“What do you mean, senpai?” Yachi wonders if she should be taking notes.

“Hinata-kun, you’re the one who actually handled the potion. You altered the potion from its original state into a different form: the blueberry pie,” Sugawara explains. “Do you remember your intentions when you were making the pie?”

“Uh…I was intending to make pie? And not mess up I guess,” Hinata scratches his head. 

Sugawara laughs a little, “No, was there anything in particular you were thinking about when making the pie?” 

Hinata hums, rocking back and forth on his feet as he mulls the question over. “Oh!” his eyes brighten in realization, “I was trying really hard to get it just right so that when—” Hinata pauses, his face flushing a little. “S-so that when Ka—  _ whoever _ ate it, they would really like it.”

“Like  _ just _ the pie? Only like  _ it _ ?” Sugawara grins knowingly at Hinata. Yachi frowns a little, looking between the two. What were they talking about?

“Yep!” Hinata nods, “I am but a humble baker who wishes for all my customers to enjoy their pie. Just made some blueberry pie with love so whoever may happen to eat it would love it. It, being the pie. Obviously. No specific thoughts about any one person or emotion involved here.” 

“Right,” Sugawara says with an amused huff. “Well, your thoughts helped activate the potion, intentional or not. Hinata, being the pie maker, became the object of affection for those who consumed the pie.” 

Hinata flushes further, bowing his head down and inspecting his shoes. Yachi feels a pang of guilt shoot through her heart. If only she hadn’t been so careless…

“Hang on,” Kenma squints at the cauldron, “if the potion is in the pie and the intentions are related to the pie...shouldn’t they be in love with the pie?”

“You can’t be in love with pie, Kenma,” Yachi sighs.

“Untrue. I can safely say this apple pie is my one true love.”

“Don’t let Kuroo hear you say that,” Sugawara laughs, already beginning to clean up his supplies.

“Magic seems pretty fake,” Kenma takes another bite of his pie.

“ _ You _ can literally turn into a cat at will?” Hinata cocks his head.

“Magic is sus.”

“What should we do now, senpai?” Yachi asks, ignoring Hinata’s and Kenma’s discussion about the potential fakeness of magic. 

“There isn’t really much you can do now,” Sugawara says apologetically. “Don’t worry too much. The potion shouldn’t last that long and will likely wear off on its own. Trying to counteract the potion may just make things worse too.” 

“But shouldn’t we tell Oikawa-san, Atsumu-san, and Kageyama-kun what happened to them?”

Sugawara hums, thinking it over, “It’d probably be best not to. See, potions that change a person's affect do a good job of messing with their hormones and neurotransmitters. To those three, they  _ really _ do believe they’re in love with Hinata. Telling them otherwise would just mess with their heads even more. When the potion wears off, those feelings will no longer exist, so letting it pass may just be the safest option.”

Yachi nods her head, not liking that she has to keep lying, but understanding that telling the truth may do more harm than good. She helps Sugawara clean up the rest of his things; her senpai has an appointment elsewhere, so Yachi sends him off with some fresh Castella cake and a big hug, thanking him for coming early in the morning to help. 

“Time to get back to work now!” Hinata yawns, stretching his arms above his head. The two of them head to the front, ready to open up the bakery. 

“Wait,” Yachi frowns, suddenly remembering something. “You sold  _ three  _ slices. How come only Atsumu-san and Oikawa-san were acting like that. What about Kageyama-kun—  _ Kageyama-kun! _ Hi,” Yachi waves, laughing nervously. Kageyama stands by the front counter, returning her greeting with a light wave before tucking his hand behind his back. 

“Hi-hi!” Hinata waves, the excitement of seeing his friend apparently leading him to forget what Yachi had just been about to mention. “What are you hiding, Yamayama-kun?” Hinata tries to peek behind Kageyama but Kageyama swivels out of the way, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

“Nothing,  _ dumbass! _ ” He scowls but relaxes after a few seconds, “I just had something to ask you.”

Well, this was definitely on the list of moments Yachi wishes she  _ weren’t _ here to witness.

Hinata cocks his head in confusion, brows furrowing slightly after seeing Kageyama’s uncharacteristically bashful state. 

“I am gonna go water the plants,” Yachi announces, deciding it’d be best if she excuses herself, “ _Over_ _there_ ,” she jabs a thumb to the far corner. Hurriedly snatching a spray bottle of water (the one Yachi uses to water the plants and that Kuroo uses to bully Kenma into doing his job), Yachi scurries away. She hides behind a large shelf full of plants and decor; she’s mostly out of view but not quite out of earshot.

“This could end badly,” Yachi whispers to herself, worried eyes glancing where Kageyama and Hinata stand. A soft meow reaches her ear in response, startling her. Yachi nearly shrieks but calms once she sees it’s just kitty Kenma, sitting in an empty clay pot.

“Shh!” Yachi shushes, scooping him up and continues to sorta-maybe-eavesdrop on her two best friends. 

“These are for you!” Yachi looks up just in time to see Kageyama thrust a bouquet of bright sunflowers in Hinata’s direction. 

“M-me?” Hinata stammers, hands unsurely accepting the flowers.

“I was wondering if you...if you wanted to go out...on a date. With me,” Kageyama nervously twists his fingers around his wrist, ears turning a deep red. Yachi couldn’t see his face too clearly since he was looking down, but she’s sure his cheeks match. 

“A date?” Hinata squeaks, hiding his face behind the flowers. “With you—  _ oh _ . Right,” he lets out a breathy laugh. “It happened to you too, no wonder.” 

“What?” Kageyama blinks, confusion overriding his sheepishness. 

“You were the most straightforward though,” Hinata laughs some more, “Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun were a bit more subtle. But I guess you’ve never really been subtle,” he muses. 

“Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun asked you out too?” Kageyama’s voice sounds hollow and far away. 

“Kinda, yeah,” Hinata scratches the back of his head. He lets out a sigh, “Well, I’ll go stick these in some water.”

“Wait! That’s...that’s it?” Kageyama looks at Hinata, bewildered.

“I gotta get back to work,” Hinata explains. “You can come back later, relax.”

“Come back later?” Kageyama echoes.

“Yeah, I said the same to Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun,” Hinata shrugs, turning around to head behind to counter.

“You!” Kageyama glares at Hinata’s back. Yachi winces; she had really been hoping this wouldn’t end in another infamous Kageyama-Hinata brawl. Kageyama doesn’t smack Hinata, like he normally would, though. Instead, his scowl falls and a sad, defeated look settles on his face. 

Somehow, that makes Yachi feel worse than the fighting would have.

“Whatever,” Kageyama mutters and turns to leave, seeing that Hinata has already become preoccupied elsewhere. Yachi darts out of her sorta-hiding spot, dashing in front of him. 

“Hold Kenma!” She shoves the sleepy cat into his arms.

“I—what?” Kageyama's sad expression disappears, a bewildered and flustered one replacing it. “Wait, don’t—”

“Relax, Kenma will be good. Won’t he?” Yachi levels Kenma with a stern look. Cats probably can’t be huffy, but the meow Kenma sent her way sounded pretty huffy. 

“Sit down, Kageyama-kun,” Yachi pushes Kageyama and to the seats by the window. “You should eat, since you’re here.” 

“Um, I…” Kageyama glances across the room, where Hinata is refilling the cookie display. “Can we eat upstairs?” He asks Yachi pleadingly, voice breaking a little. Yachi’s guilt grows, clawing at her chest as she again sees the trouble she and that stupid love potion are causing her friends. 

She nods at Kageyama and the three of them quietly slip upstairs. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Kenma, despite his initial protests, is now happily napping in Kageyama’s lap, the latter hesitantly stroking the cat’s back, his lips twitching into a soft smile. The power of Cat really is not to be taken lightly. 

Neither of them talks about what happened downstairs; Yachi because she’s been given orders not to mention anything to Kageyama, and Kageyama because he’s quite adept at compartmentalizing his emotions. 

Instead, they drink some strawberry milk and eat chocolate chip cookies, talking about whatever mundane, non-Hinata-related things that come to mind. 

Some time after they’ve finished off the plate of cookies, Kageyama tells Yachi he should get going now. He’s at least looking sufficiently less gloomy and doomy, so Yachi thanks him for coming over, getting up to packing some extra cookies for him and his sister. 

They exchange, Yachi handing Kageyama the tupperware and Kageyama awkwardly handing her a still-sleeping Kenma. Yachi walks Kageyama out the side door, just to be extra sure they don’t run into Hinata and waves Kageyama goodbye. 

“What are we going to do now, Kenma?” Yachi sighs, petting the sleepy cat in her arms. 

Kenma purrs softly, shifting in her arms, and goes back to sleep. Yachi goes and puts him down on his bed before heading back to work. 

And so, it continues.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“These are some well-grown  _ Helianthus pauciflorus. _ ” Yachi looks up, seeing Ushijima nod with approval at the vase of sunflowers. Hinata had left them as a centrepiece for one of the tables in the foyer and Yachi, remembering Kageyama’s melancholy, didn’t have the heart to let them wilt so she sprinkled them with a little longevity magic that Ushijima had taught her a while back. 

“Very sturdy stems and a pleasing shade of yellow. An 8/10,” Ushijima rates.

“You are a strange, strange specimen,” Kenma regards Ushijima with mild fascination, cheek resting in the palm of his hand, fingers drumming against the dark wood of the table. 

Yachi bites back a smile, silently agreeing with Kenma. Although, Kenma really is not in any position to be calling other people strange. Yachi stays quiet and adds more clips into Kenma’s hair. Yachi’s hair easily turns into a tangled, frizzy mess while Kenma has smooth and silky hair that is perfect for styling. Maybe it was the cat genetics? 

She’s enjoying her morning break, tying Kenma’s hair back into a half-bun and accessorizing with some  _ Hello Kitty _ clips that Hinata’s little sister had brought some time ago. It’s a relaxing experience for both of them. 

“I’m back!” Yachi hears the front entrance jingle and a sweaty Hinata enters in his worn-out runners, a slight sweat-soaked tee half-tucked into a pair of peachy-orange shorts thrown on top of some black athletic leggings. 

“Morning!” Yachi smiles, Kenma and Ushijima chorusing a ‘good morning’ of their own. “How was your jog?” 

“Good!” Hinata downs the remaining water left in his bottle, collapsing into a seat at their table. “I saw  _ so _ many dogs!” 

“Gross,” Kenma pulls a face. “You didn’t pet them did you?”

“Maybe!” Hinata laughs, threateningly moving his palms towards Kenma’s face.

“Stay away, you _filthy_ _cheater_ ,” Kenma jerks backwards. Luckily, Yachi loosens her grip on his hair before it gets pulled on.

“Aw, you’re still my favourite, Kenma!” Hinata assures.

“Go wash your hands at least,” Kenma continues to dodge Hinata’s hands. Yachi checks the time and decides she might as well get back to work. She shakes her head smiling as Kenma hides behind Ushijima and Hinata continues to chase him. She heads to the kitchen to wash up. Upon returning to the front area, Yachi’s peaceful morning comes to a screeching halt. 

“Shoyo-kun~” Right, she had nearly forgotten about  _ that _ .

“Atsumu-kun!” Hinata greets brightly, because even when his friends were under the compulsion of a love potion he was incapable of being anything but cheery and friendly. 

“Wow,” Atsumu whistles as he eyes Hinata’s sweaty and ruffled state. 

“Hinata-kun!” Yachi interjects, a feeling of protectiveness spiking through her, “You should go shower or you might catch a cold.” She nudges Hinata towards the stairs.

“You’re leaving? But I just got here,” Atsumu looks genuinely disappointed and Hinata falters.

“Uh...I really  _ should _ shower. Being sweaty is gross,” Hinata says apologetically. 

“I think ya look  _ great _ ,” Atsumu gives an exaggerated wink. Yachi resists the urge to cringe. 

“I’ll be quick,” Hinata assures, “You can just wait down here.” Yachi shuffles over to the donut display and realigns the eclairs, trying to ignore the longing look in Atsumu’s eyes as he watches Hinata leave. 

“Let’s get rid of him.” Yachi nearly drops an eclair, startled by Kenma who is suddenly behind her. 

“Stop doing that!” Yachi wheezes, clutching her rapidly beating heart. 

“Maybe if we get Ushijima to help we can literally throw him out,” Kenma squints in Atsumu’s direction. 

“We can’t do that,” Yachi sighs, “Hinata asked him to stay. Besides, it’s not Atsumu-kun’s fault he’s like this,” Yachi frowns. Guilt seems to be her new best friend these days. 

“Fine,” Kenma sends one last glare at Astumu, who remains oblivious, “But don’t feed him any apple pie.” 

“I won’t,” Yachi rolls her eyes with a fond smile. Ushijima bids them all goodbye, heading back to work himself. Yachi continues with her tasks, restocking products and checking the inventory. She even manages to cajole Kenma into doing his job of manning the front counter.

It’s around noon and not too busy in the bakery, only a few customers popping in and out. She dutifully pays no attention to the back corner where Hinata and Atsumu sit, allowing Hinata to handle the situation however he seems fit.

Kenma, begrudgingly, also leaves them alone. Although, he looks up every now and then to send a suspicious glare to the back of Atsumu’s head as Hinata and Atsumu chatter away. 

It’s nearly a quarter to one when Osamu barges in, looking around the room before his eyes land on his brother. He stalks over with an impassive look and hauls Atsumu up by the back of his shirt. Yachi only spares them one glance before returning her attention back to the customer in front of her. 

“Let’s  _ go _ , loser,” Osamu yanks Atsumu.

“Wait!” Atsumu struggles, “Shoyo!” He reaches out towards Hinata who waves politely. 

“Bye Osamu-kun!” 

“Don’t forget me, Shoyo-kun! I’ll text you later, yeah?”

“Quit being a dramatic bitch,” Osamu kicks Atsumu’s ankles. 

“Quit manhandling me!”

“Bye Yacchan,” Osamu calls over his shoulder, ignoring Atsumu’s protests. 

Yachi waves goodbye to both of the Miya twins. The bakery settles into quietness after the two leave. Since this is not the first time Osamu has dragged his brother out of their shop, not even the customers seem too fazed. 

Yachi finishes ringing up the customers’ orders and wishes them a good day as they exit. 

“Finally,” Kenma grumbles next to her. Yachi silently agrees with him. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

The start of Hinata’s shift is welcomed by Oikawa’s return. Yachi continues to not get involved and wipes down the tables a bit slower than usual, as she totally does  _ not _ eavesdrop. 

“Shoyo~” Oikawa sings out, batting his eyelashes like some flirty schoolgirl. 

“Oikawa-san,” Hinata smiles in greeting, carefully carrying a tray of macarons over to the glass display. Using a pair of tongs, he gently places them in a neat line. Yachi thinks her friend is rather commendable. God knows she would not be able to focus on her work with all this love potion hullabaloo. She’s fairly certain she’d implode on the spot if Oikawa-san was staring at  _ her  _ with those coquettish doe eyes. 

“Sho _ yo _ ,” the coquette in question whines. “You don’t have to be so formal. Oikawa-san is so…” he wrinkles his nose in thought, “ _ not intimate _ .” 

“You’re a customer, though. I gotta be professional or Kuroo-san will be mad!” Yachi and Hinata pointedly do not look at Kenma, who’s wrapped up in a fluffy blanket, napping away on the front counter, lest anyone question the  _ professional  _ nature of their bakery. “Besides, I think Kageyama-kun might blow a fuse if he heard me calling you something friendlier,” Hinata muses. 

“Who cares about Tobio-chan?” Oikawa waves a hand. “I,” he leans in closer to Hinata. “only care about  _ you _ ,” the last word is punctuated by a soft tap to the tip of Hinata’s nose. 

“That’s...um…” Hinata's eyes cross as he looks at where Oikawa’s finger had just been. “Haha! Aren’t you gonna order anything, Oikawa-san?” he flushes and looks away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d love to order  _ you _ to-go.”

“Uhh…” Yachi can practically see Hinata’s mind trying to reboot. 

“Shoyo’s not for sale,” Kenma (freshly awoken from his nap) protectively covers Hinata’s head with his blanket. “Order something else, whore.” Kenma is one of Hinata’s closest friends, of course he’d be protective.

“We still have some milk bread left,” Hinata offers, voice muffled from beneath the blanket. 

“Sounds delicious!” Oikawa smiles. 

“Buy all of it,” Kenma demands (because he is also friends with Kuroo). 

One box of milk bread wrapped and a flirtatious transaction later, Oikawa is on his way, sending one final flying kiss in Hinata’s direction. 

Yachi shuffles over to Kenma after Hinata heads to the kitchen. “Don’t you feel bad taking money from people we essentially drugged?” 

“ _ Accidentally _ drugged,” Kenma reminds. “And he just bought a box of milk bread. It’s not like I made him sign his life savings away.” 

“Still...” Yachi chews on her lip in worry. 

“Don’t worry so much,” Kenma sighs. “Come on,” he latches onto Yachi's wrist.

“Where?” Yachi is gently pulled along.

“To take your mind off of all this. You need to relax.” True, probably. But that still didn’t answer Yachi’s question. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Kenma’s idea of relaxing was apparently going to the top floor and staking out the birds. 

“It’s a  _ crow _ , Kenma,” Yachi sighs.

“It’s a crow with  _ evil _ intentions. I can feel it,” Kenma glares out the window. The crow on the balcony squawks, its head twitching. 

“Evil…” Kenma mutters, continuing to glower at the crow. Admittedly, dealing with her familiar’s peculiar antics does take Yachi’s mind off of things. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Life goes on.

Yachi wakes up before dawn and does her morning prep. She studies texts on potions and herbs, taking neat notes and practicing incantations. She makes all sorts of desserts and baked goods. She greets customers and fills orders. She washes dishes after eating lunch with her housemates. She shows Hinata how to ice the lettering for birthday cakes. She delivers a neatly organized inventory list to Kuroo. She bakes apple pies for Kenma every time he asks. And on top of all her normal, everyday life, Yachi deals with the consequences of her brief moment of carelessness. 

“This is…a lot of flowers,” Osamu raises an eyebrow at Yachi as he examines the copious amount of flowers and bouquets filling up the tables on the first floor. Kenma, after sneezing one too many times, had refused to allow them to bring the flowers upstairs to their living quarters. So, they continued to pile the flowers up downstairs.

“Yeah…” is the only response Yachi can offer.

“Why don’t you get rid of some of them?” Osamu asks.

“Hinata said he’d feel bad if he just threw them away,” Yachi sighs, not really able to be mad at that because she knows she’d be the same if it were her. 

“It’s aesthetically pleasing, at least,” Kuroo shrugs, poking at some magnolias. “People have been coming in to check them out too.” Yachi imagines that peering into a bakery window and seeing tables and shelves full to the brim with flowers and plants piques one’s curiosity. 

“People’ve been asking about it, you know?” Osamu comments casually, plucking off the petal of a red rose. “The  _ courting competition _ going on at the bakery.”

“The what?” Yachi’s eyes widen.

“People have noticed that two guys keep coming in and flirting with the part-timer, bringing more and more gifts too. Flowers, chocolates, food…” Osamu trails off, expectantly looking at Yachi. 

“I— uh, that—” Yachi struggles to find any words.

“One of those idiots is my brother, Yacchan,” Osamu sighs. “Kinda hard not to notice when he’s waxing poetic about Shoyo-kun every hour.” 

Oh god, this is it. Osamu-kun has always been way too perceptive and now he’s found out what’s going on and he’s gonna be so mad that Yachi did that to his brother and he’s gonna hate her forever and ever and—

“I can get him to stop if it’s bothering you.”

“Huh?”

“It must be annoying the hell out of Shoyo-kun and you guys too. I’ll get that idiot to lay off if you’d like?”

“That’s…”  _ probably not gonna work because it’s not just your brother being annoying it’s because he was accidentally given a love potion and is now infatuated with Hinata for the foreseeable future. _ Right, because  _ that _ explanation would go over smoothly.

“That’s not necessary,” Kuroo cuts in for her. “Hinata’s doing fine, Atsumu and he are friends after all. Besides, who doesn’t like flowers?”

“Me.” They all look up to see a disgruntled Kenma standing a few metres away.

“No, Kenma!” Kuroo warns.

It’s too late; glass shatters on the floor after Kenma pushes a vase off the edge of the table. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Oikawa comes in with some lovely tulips later that day. He does not manage to hand them to Hinata since Kenma intercepts them, hissing and throwing the flowers out the window. 

A bold but stupid decision on Kenma’s part, considering he’s allergic to tulips. Yachi spends the next hour soothing and scolding him after he forcibly transforms into his cat form to recuperate. 

By the next morning, Kuroo decides to sell the rest of the flowers off to customers; cleaning up broken glass and torn flowers stops being fun after the first five or so times, after all. 

Business is doing well, at least. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“I brought you lunch, Shoyo-kun!” Atsumu waves a bag in front of Hinata’s face. 

“It smells so good!” Hinata’s eyes light up. Judging by the fond smile on Atsumu’s face, that’s the exact reaction he was looking for.

“Free food is free food,” Kuroo pats Yachi’s shoulder, after she wonders aloud if accepting so much food from a magically narcotized person is ethical. The feeling of hunger pushes aside the swirl of guilt in her stomach. It’s hard to say no to Osamu-kun’s food, okay?

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Shoyo, try some.”

“Mm! It’s so sweet!”

“Not as sweet as your adorable self.”

Yachi scoops some milk tea powder into the mini blender. The whirring of the blades drowns out the voices a little bit. 

“I feel like I’m watching the beginning of a very specific type of gay porn.”

“Suga-senpai!’ Yachi gasps, turning to look at him with a scandalized look. 

“What?” Sugawara raises his hands in surrender. “He just peeled a tangerine for Shoyo and then  _ fed him _ .” Yachi’s eyes dart over to Oikawa and Hinata, watching as Oikawa pushes another tangerine slice into Hinata’s mouth. “Everyone knows that peeling fruit for someone is an act of eroticism.” 

Yachi really can’t argue against that so she keeps her mouth shut and continues to make Sugawara some bubble tea. 

Meanwhile, on the counter behind her: “Kenma, open up,” Kuroo feeds Kenma some tangerines. Kenma distractedly accepts, his attention more focused on the game he was playing. He sits cross-legged on top of the bar counter behind the seating area, thumbs moving in a coordinated blur on his Nintendo Switch. 

“Get me some strawberries,” Kenma nods towards Kuroo, not even looking up from his game. 

“What about the tangerine?”

“Too sour,” Kenma mumbles. Kuroo lazily feeds him some sliced strawberries instead. 

Yachi shakes her head at them, handing Sugawara his bubble tea. 

“See? Nothing more romantic than preparing fruit and feeding it to your lover.”

Yachi glances back at Kuroo and Kenma. Kuroo feeds Kenma a whole strawberry, stem and all, likely just to see if Kenma would even notice. Kenma does not. 

Yachi decides she has to disagree with her senpai’s statement. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Yachi, this crow hasn’t left in two whole days. Suspicious much?”

“How do you even know it’s the same crow?”

“I can tell.”

“It’s just a crow, Kenma. It’s just...doing crow things.”

“How come it’s leaving pinecones and shiny rocks on our balcony, then?”

“...”

“See?  _ Sus _ .”

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Do people always act differently when they’re in love?” 

“I think it depends. Some people don’t always act on their emotions.” 

Yachi hums, nodding her head slightly. One hand holds her head up while the other lazily strokes Kenma’s fur, the cat having fallen asleep on her lap. There’s a comfortable silence resting in the seating area; the sun filtering through the window, casting rays of lights and shadows across the room. 

“Ushijima-san,” Yachi speaks again, after a few moments. “Have you ever been in love?” 

“In love? I don’t think so.”

“Do you think you’d act different towards that person if you were?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure. Do  _ you _ think I would act differently?”

“No,” Yachi smiles, “You’re kind to everyone, Ushijima-san.”

Ushijima drinks the rest of his iced tea and they fall into a soft silence once again.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“You look tired, Kageyama-kun,” Yachi hovers over Kageyama’s slouched figure with her typical nervous energy. 

“Yeah,” Kageyama yawns, resting his head on his forearms. His eyes twitch a bit, like he’s struggling to keep them open. It makes his lashes look long and fluttery, Yachi thinks. 

Yachi hesitates, wondering if she should leave her friend or wake him up. What if he had somewhere to be later? Did he have dinner yet or not? 

Yachi bites her lip, silently trying to figure out what to do. While she’s mentally worrying and debating her choices, Hinata walks over and assesses the situation. 

“Hey, Kageyama!” Hinata kicks at the leg of the chair Kageyama is hunched over in. 

“Mm?” Kageyama looks up, trying to open his eyes wider. 

“Why don’t you just sleepover?” Yachi looks at Hinata in surprise.

“Huh?”

“It looks like you’re gonna pass out any second,” Hinata explains. “Just go sleep upstairs.” It’s not like Kageyama has never slept over before. He even has a stash of clothes and whatnot stored away upstairs. But considering recent developments, she hadn’t been expecting Hinata to offer so easily. Kageyama stares at Hinata and Hinata stares boldly back. Yachi swears she can feel a current of electricity run through the room.

“Fine,” Kageyama mutters finally. He stands up, swaying ever-so-slightly, and heads upstairs. 

“You can go, you know...” Yachi gestures to where Kageyama just disappeared to, “I can finish cleaning up down here,” she assures Hinata. 

“Are you sure?” Hinata asks, but he’s already reaching to untie his apron.

“It’s okay. There’s only a couple things left to do anyway,” Yachi smiles.

Part of Yachi thinks it’s unfair to both Kageyama and Hinata to have them be forced together like that when one of them is unwillingly in love with the other. But another part of her has noticed how tired and downcast Kageyama seems lately and selfishly sends Hinata his way to cheer him up a little. 

(She wonders if using one friend to help another friend like that, because she herself is so inadequate, is still wrong…)

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Yachi is usually awake before the rest of the household but when she heads downstairs to the back kitchen the next morning, she finds both Kageyama and Hinata leaning against the counter, guzzling down some icy water. 

They’re both breathing heavily, faces flushed and hair windswept, their shorts and athletic tees clinging to their skin. 

“Good morning,” Yachi greets carefully, not quite sure what the vibe of the room was yet. “Did you guys go running?”

“Yep. I won!” Hinata grins, still a little breathless. 

“Did not,” Kageyama shoulders him. 

“I so totally did!” Yachi grabs her apron, only sort of listening to the two of them bicker about their infinite competition score. It felt nice,  _ normal _ , to hear them arguing like that, even at the crack of dawn. 

Yachi eventually drives them out of the kitchen, telling them breakfast was waiting for them upstairs. The two of them continue some other nonsensical argument on their way out but Yachi catches the affectionate smiles on both of their faces. 

Suddenly, she wonders if Kageyama has always had that smile on his face when he’s with Hinata? Or was it because of the love potion? Yachi frowns, unable to remember clearly enough to be certain. It felt like she was missing something, like there was something she just wasn’t understanding fully. She shakes her head, trying to rid herself of all these unanswerable questions and thoughts. 

There was no time to think about the human spectrum of emotions, not when there are cookies to be baked and tarts to be filled and magic spells to be cast.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Yachi, how’s your animal magic?”

“Uh, not the best. I work better with plants and food. Why?” Yachi paused, knuckles hovering over a ball of dough. 

“You can never truly defeat your enemies unless you know their objective,” Kenma states, an ominous aura hovering around him.

“Are you quoting  _ Pacific Rim _ ?” Kuroo asks, pinning up next week’s schedule to the wall. 

“Is this about that crow?” Yachi blows a piece of hair out of her face. 

“Yes. To both of you.” 

“ _ Kenma _ ,” Yachi warns. 

“The balcony is covered in feathers and bird poop, Yachi!” Kenma exclaims, uncharacteristically riled up for once. “That used to be my prime napping area and now it’s been invaded by the enemy.”

“Kiyoko-senpai’s familiar isn’t like this,” Yachi sighs, returning to kneading the dough. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Yachi is not someone who got angry easily. Anger was kinda hard to come by when self-doubt and frenzied anxiety live in her mind rent-free. Moreover, people being angry  _ at her _ is just about Yachi’s worst nightmare so she lives by the ethics of reciprocity. In short, Yachi being mad at someone is about as rare as Kenma willingly going for a run. 

But she can’t deny it, that ugly heat in her chest, bubbling under her skin and making her fingers twitch and her jaw tightens...it’s anger. She’s angry. It feels foreign and yet so appropriate, like her whole body is validating her anger.  _ Yes _ , the blood coursing through her veins says,  _ this is what you should be feeling right now.  _

People might think Yachi is sweet and pure-hearted since she’s not one to show anger. But the thing about never being angry...it means it’s pretty hard to cope with it once you are. And Yachi’s sure she’s progressing smoothly past  _ angry _ and right into  _ furious _ . 

Yachi is in the back kitchen, semi-aggressively frosting a cake that was ordered for pick-up later today. Every now and then she looks up at the shimmering mirage in front of her; a spell that gave her a window-like view of the front foyer. She would usually use it to keep an eye on how busy the bakery was, in case she needs to go help out Kenma or Hinata. 

Currently, it seems like every time she looks up the line of customers becomes longer and longer. The urge to rush out and handle things is almost overwhelming, but Yachi knows she needs to frost this cake soon so she can refrigerate it and then finish decorating it in time for the pick-up later. That’s not what’s making her mad, though. Yachi glares at the mirage before her, putting down the piping bag for a moment so she doesn’t accidentally squeeze it everywhere. 

What’s making her so,  _ so _ mad is that instead of serving the increasingly long line of customers, Hinata is busy chatting away with Atsumu and Oikawa. 

Fortunately enough, throughout the week Oikawa, Atsumu, and Kageyama never seemed to show up at the bakery at the same time. Today however, on Friday aka their busiest workday,  _ both _ Atsumu and Oikawa showed up a bit after lunch and made a beeline for Hinata, trying to get the shorter boy’s attention like the lovesick puppies they currently are. Yachi isn’t even sure how long they’ve been here but neither of them looks like they’re backing down anytime soon. And Hinata doesn’t look like he’s getting tired of the attention either; Yachi watches as he laughs and smiles along with whatever the other two men are spouting at him. 

A few customers try to look up at the counter to see what the hold-up is. A few of them shake their heads and leave. 

Yachi waves away the mirage.  _ No _ , there’s no time to be worrying about all that. She has a three-tier cake to finish. Hinata’s an adult and her friend. She should have more faith in him, he can handle this. 

Yachi takes a deep breath, allowing some of her anger to flow out when she exhales.  _ Focus on what’s in front of you. Needlessly worrying will get you nowhere. _

There’s buttercream frosting and crumb coats to worry about right now. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

The front foyer is a mess. The sweets in the display shelves need to be realigned, the tables need to be cleared of half-empty teacups and scrunched-up napkins, and Yachi can see some spilt milk tea on the bar counter. She heads toward the front counter. The receipts are all over the place, crumpled and folded up all wrong, and someone has knocked over the fern plant in the corner, spilling dirt and leaves all over the wooden floors. 

Yachi squeezes her eyes shut, fists clenched at her side, taking three deep breaths. She then goes in search of a broom and dustpan. 

In the corridor between the kitchen and the front foyer, Yachi bumps into Hinata, who’s exiting the first-floor bathroom. 

“Oh, hey Yachi!” Hinata smiles at her and Yachi’s plans to grab a broom vanish, the sudden and unfamiliar desire for confrontation bursting inside of her.

“What have you been doing this whole time?” Yachi’s skin feels clammy and her throat feels tight.

“What do you mean?” Hinata tilts his head to the side.

“The front foyer is a total mess.”

“I was just about to clean it up!” Hinata insists, nodding his head enthusiastically. 

“I saw you talking to Oikawa-san and Atsumu-san your whole shift,” Yachi crosses her arms over her chest.

“Not the  _ whole _ time. It was kinda hard to get orders right with those two, though,” Hinata laughs a little.

“You should have focused on the customers more,” Yachi frowns.

“Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun were being pretty persistent,” Hinata explains, “They kept insisting I go out with one of them and I couldn’t just  _ pick _ one of them or the other’s feelings would get hurt and… Are you okay, Yachi?” He tilts his head to the side, eyes wide and innocent. It makes Yachi even angrier.

“Can’t you see this is getting out of hand?” Yachi runs a hand through her hair, fingers combing all the way through her pale strands. 

“What do you mean?” Hinata asks, frowning a little.

“It’s all… _ too much _ ,” Yachi waves her hands, frustrated she can’t articulate her thoughts clearly. She takes a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm and collected. “We don’t know how long this love potion thing will last. I know it’s  _ distracting _ but I think it’s best if we all just focus on our work right now.” 

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” Hinata crosses his arms over his chest. 

“I think all this love potion stuff is distracting you from what’s really important. And it’s not your fault but you can’t just keep getting swept up by it all and ignore your responsibilities. Maybe if we turn those three away for a bit so you can still work? Or if we change your shifts around and— ”

“Yachi,” Hinata cuts her off, “ _ some _ of us have a life outside of work.” 

“What?” Yachi blinks, taken aback. 

“I can’t just  _ hide _ because it’s slightly inconvenient.”

“I’m not telling you to hide, I’m just saying it’s been harder for everyone when you’re spending all your time appeasing those three—” 

“Harder for everyone? It’s been hard for  _ me _ ,” Hinata says, exasperated. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, okay?” Yachi tries not to flinch at Hinata’s agitated tone or raised voice. 

“Well, you seem like you’re enjoying the attention quite a bit,” Yachi bites back. 

“So what if I am?” Hinata scowls, “Not everyone hates attention like you do, Yachi.” 

“This isn’t about me. It’s about you and how you’re being so…  _ so selfish! _ ”

“I’m being selfish?” Hinata’s eyes widen in disbelief. “How?”

“You’re just thinking about yourself and not the bigger consequences. Stop acting like everything’s okay! We did something wrong, Hinata. We _ are _ doing something wrong by continuing to lie and pretend like everything’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that it’s not going to be okay. Making a mistake isn’t the end of the world. No one’s a perfect human being, Yachi. Quit acting like some morality judge.” 

“Quit pretending like you’re doing some altruistic deed by being nice when you’re loving all the attention and gifts you’ve been getting!”

“What’s wrong with that? You don’t have to feel guilty every time someone’s nice to you, you know!” 

“You  _ should _ feel guilty though! How can you not when you know why they’re acting like that?” Yachi’s throat feels dry and her eyes feel hot. 

“Because spending all my time feeling guilty and sorry is useless! You spend so much time worrying about everything but you never  _ do _ anything about it!” Yachi’s fairly sure they’re both shouting now but she can’t bring herself to care about remaining civil anymore. 

“So what? If you can’t do anything about it, it’s suddenly okay?” 

“Stop twisting my words. Why are you getting so hung up on this now anyway?”

“Because I’m worried something bad is gonna happen!”

“Since when do you not worry about that?”

“I’m trying to help!”

“Help who? You and your misplaced guilt? If I’m being selfish, then so are you. As long as  _ you _ don’t have to worry about getting in trouble, you’ll be fine, right?” 

“I’m worried about  _ you  _ too, okay?”

“Well, don’t! I’m fine!”

“You’re my friend, of course I’m gonna worry about you!” 

“Why?”

“Do you not realize what’s happening?”

“I’m not stupid, Yachi.”

“Love potions are illegal, Hinata!”

“I know that!”

“It’s gonna wear off eventually.”

“I  _ know _ that! See, that’s why getting all anxious for no—”

“They aren’t actually in love with you, Hinata!”

“I know he isn’t!” A pause. “ _ They. _ I know  _ they _ aren’t.” 

Yachi, through blurry, tearful, vision watches Hinata deflate, like all the energy pent up inside of him has disappeared. They stand there in the hallway, the tension feels more suffocating than anything Yachi has experienced before. 

“I’m gonna go clean up now,” Hinata says after the silence between them becomes too much, his voice wet and choked. “I’ll do it myself, don’t help me, okay?” Hinata wipes at the corners of his eyes with his palms, stalking past Yachi. And Yachi is left standing there, hollow and exhausted and alone. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> duh-duh-duh! lol that's the height of the angst though because why write angst when you can have shenanigans instead?
> 
> next chapter will be up in about a week! kudos/comments very appreciated <3
> 
> thank you for reading and i hope everyone's march treats them kindly!
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/petiteshoyo)


	3. The Truth Revealed: A Sudden Confession!

Saturday morning begins with a rather unpleasant start. 

The front foyer has been restored to its former glory. The tables and chairs have been wiped down and realigned; the display glass free of any smudges and marks. Floor swept and mopped to shiny perfection. It looks as it always does when Yachi comes down in the morning, maybe even cleaner. The only change Yachi notices is the knocked-over yucca plant has been replaced with a large rubber tree. It looks better than the yucca, Yachi thinks. 

Her mind flashes imagined images of Hinata staying up all night, clearly distressed, cleaning everything up all by himself. It’s painful to swallow that lump of guilt and regret in her throat. 

She sighs, something she seems to be doing a lot lately, and heads into the kitchen to start baking today’s goods. 

Yachi initially worried about it being too hard or too tiring to avoid Hinata, considering they live together. It turns out, she didn’t have to worry about that at all since Hinata seems intent on staying in the bakery as little as possible. She wonders if he asked Kuroo for some time off but can’t bring herself to ask Kuroo about it. 

Kuroo and Kenma most definitely notice but neither of them says anything, only exchanging concerned glances with each other every now and then. 

Yachi feels like a ghost, wandering from room to room, going from task to task, never once bumping into Hinata. She wonders where he is, what he’s doing. She wonders if she’s lost the right to be curious about her friend like that. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

It’s Sunday afternoon and the bakery is quiet. 

Yachi tries to busy herself with icing sugar cookies but her hands just aren’t cooperating with her. She sets the piping bag down with a frustrated sigh. Yachi grabs a wooden wand out of a cup holding other various baking utensils and points it at the piping bag, willing it to finish icing the rest of the cookies for her. The cookies won’t be as fancy or intricate as usual since her anthropomorphism skills are pretty basic, but it’ll get the job done, at least. 

Yachi rolls her neck, trying to get all the kinks out, and walks over to the sink, looking out the window at the shrubbery outside. She looks over the to-do list that’s pinned to the wall, her neat handwriting mixed in with Kuroo’s stylish strokes, Kenma’s small print, and Hinata’s slanted scrawls. It’s a messy to-do list; things crossed out with thick lines, arrows used to rearrange tasks, several different colours of ink all over the page. Somehow, Yachi can still make sense of it all though, no matter how messy. 

She notices that the bar still needs to be restocked so she grabs a few different kinds of milk from storage and puts them in the refrigerator by the bar. While she’s there, Yachi decides now is a good time as any to reorganize the cups and mugs like she’s been meaning to. 

She pulls everything out, wipes the shelves down, wipes the cups and mugs, and begins to put them back, in a new arrangement. She does the same for the utensil drawers, rearranging the metal straws and cup sleeves. 

When she’s finally done, Yachi realizes no one else will know where she put everything. They'll have to spend extra time searching, or ask Yachi, and it’ll take them time to readjust, to get used to the new arrangement. Yachi suddenly wonders if she should have spent more time thinking this through, instead of acting on a whim and rearranging everything. After all, it doesn’t really matter if the spoons are in the leftmost drawer or if the mugs are stored upside-down or not. It was fine how it was before, right?

_ Some of us have a life outside of work. _

Right. It’s just kitchenware. 

Sighing, Yachi re-reorganizes the bar area, altering it back to a slightly cleaner version of how it used to be. 

She wastes over a whole hour like that.

Maybe she should stop doing things that no one asks of her. For the interest of saving time, if nothing else.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

The roof of the bakery is one of Yachi’s favourite places in the whole world. 

_ “It’s so...magical,”  _ she had whispered in awe when she saw it for the first time. Kenma had said that word was too ironic of an adjective when used by an actual witch. 

But it’s true. Yachi can’t help but think there’s something magical about the rooftop. It’s a mixture of wood, concrete, and greenery. There’s an abundant amount of tall plants, surrounding the aged outdoor furniture. Concrete stairs led up to an upper deck with a round glass table and antique chairs with fraying seat covers. Delicate fairy lights surround the edges, giving the space a warm and airy glow. It’s secluded, like a hidden garden, yet provides a beautiful view of the area around them. 

Yachi’s up there right now, leaning against the railing that’s cool to the touch in the late evening air. She can see the city lights in the distance, their brightness becoming more prominent now that they aren’t competing with the dazzling sunlight. Across the way, Yachi can see Onigiri Miya, the lights turning off after closing time. The streets are mostly empty, save for a couple walking together, arms linked. Yachi can barely make out their laughter from all the way up here. 

A soft breeze blows past her and ruffles her hair, the thin strands blowing across her face. 

Yachi is too wrapped up in her own thoughts, in taking in the calming view around her, and does not hear the careful footsteps that approach her.

“Hey.” She jumps and turns around at the same time, causing her hip bone to collide with the metal railing. Yachi bends over, clutching her side as she winces.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” She looks up and sees a worried Hinata trying to reach his hands out to help her but is unable to do so, seeing as his hands are currently preoccupied with holding two cups of bubble tea. 

“I’m okay,” Yachi wheezes, standing upright and gently massaging her hip through her warm, knit sweater. She looks at Hinata’s face again and they maintain eye contact for a whole second before bursting out into a fit of giggles. 

“Sit down, sit down,” Hinata ushers her towards the outdoor couches. The mood becomes a bit more sombre after they’re both seated, both of them preparing themselves for a long-overdue conversation. 

“Uh, this is for you!” Hinata thrusts one of the bubble teas at her. Yachi murmurs a thank you, stabbing her straw through the plastic cover on top. It’s honey almond, her favourite. The two of them quietly sip their tea, only the sound of the wind and rustling leaves to keep them company. 

“I’m sorry,” they end up blurting at the same time. 

“Me first,” Yachi cuts Hinata off before he can say more, feeling a sudden rush of confidence and resoluteness. “I shouldn’t have said those things that way. Instead of trying to understand your perspective, I was too busy worrying about my own anxieties and that wasn’t fair.”

“I wasn’t being fair either. I got too emotional and defensive and started attacking you instead of listening to what you were trying to say,” Hinata pushes his boba pearls around with his straw and Yachi can see the regret and guilt painted on his face. 

“We both said things we didn’t mean,” Yachi placates him.

Hinata nods, hands tightening around his cup, “It’s over now, at least. The love potion’s effect I mean.”

“It is?” Yachi jolts in shock a little. “When? How do you know?”

“I got texts from Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun earlier, asking if they could talk to me. I thought it was kinda weird since they usually just came here each day. So I went and met up with them each, separately, and they said they wanted to apologize for acting weird all week. It sounded like they didn’t really remember much of it though,” Hinata explains. 

“So they weren’t, you know—”

“Totally in love with me?” Hinata asks with a wry grin. “Nah, they were back to normal.” 

“That’s...good,” Yachi settles on. 

“But uh, I…” Hinata’s eyes wander around, like they always do when he’s nervous. “I did maybe tell them about the love potion incident.”

Yachi nearly chokes on a boba pearl. 

“Sorry! I just felt bad for lying. Especially when  _ they _ were apologizing to  _ me _ ,” Hinata looks at her apologetically.

“W-what did they say?” Yachi’s mind flashes with visions of her and her friends being escorted by the magic authorities, police tape surrounding the bakery, Kenma turning into his cat form and fleeing the crime scene, Hinata and herself in prison uniforms— 

“Relax!” Hinata waves a hand in front of her face, “They weren’t mad. Atsumu-kun thought it was hilarious, actually.”

“They weren’t mad? They’re not gonna report us?” Yachi clings onto Hinata’s wrist, eyes wide and still somewhat panicky. 

“Well, they’re our friends, not  _ monsters _ . Plus, I apologized very sincerely. And may have brought them both a box of free cookies and begged them not to sue us. Also, we may owe Oikawa-san a month’s worth of free milk bread.” 

“I’ll bake him a year’s worth of free milk bread!” Yachi gives Hinata the biggest bear hug she can manage, relief flooding through her veins. 

“A month’s worth is fine. I don’t need Kuroo getting mad at us instead,” Hinata mumbles, returning the hug. 

“Wait,” Yachi suddenly pulls back. “What about Kageyama-kun?” 

“Oh, yeah. He never said anything…” Hinata blinks. “I guess he’s just super embarrassed and doesn’t want to bring it up,” he waves it away, laughing slightly. 

“Maybe,” Yachi frowns, once again feeling like there’s something she’s missing. 

“But everything’s gonna go back to normal now!” Hinata grins. “We won’t have to run away from the authorities and live the rest of our lives in the scary woods!”

“That was your plan?” Yachi nearly jumps into the air, her heart pounding in her chest after being startled by the voice next to her ear. 

“Ken _ ma, _ ” She scolds, clutching at the fabric of her sweater. Kenma steals Hinata’s bubble tea in lieu of an apology, relaxing against the sofa. 

“There’s no Wi-Fi in the woods. We’d need a cottage or something at least.” 

Yachi listens to Hinata and Kenma discuss the feasibility of different escape plans, a fond smile on her face. For the first time in a week, her heart feels warm and light. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

It’s a lovely Thursday in February. The bakery is closed today since the front entrance was being replaced after some drunk fool threw a rock at it and broke the glass. And if that drunk fool just so happened to be Kuroo trying to win a bet against Yaku, then that was totally irrelevant and everyone should just enjoy their day off,  _ okay? _

Yachi took Kuroo’s words to heart and spent her Thursday catching up on the little things she seemed to never have time for. 

She organizes her closet, creating a pile of clothes to donate. She tests her markers, throwing out the ones that have run dry. She cleans up all the cat toys that Kenma pretends are beneath him. She waters the plants and dusts the shelves and before Yachi knows it, it’s already half past noon. 

She puts a tray lined with round dollops of cookie batter into the preheated oven, setting the timer to thirteen minutes. Kenma would probably make fun of her for spending her free time baking when Yachi’s job is literally to do the same. But Kenma was miraculously dragged out by Kuroo so Yachi is free to bake as she pleases, without a troublesome cat whispering in her ear that apple pie is  _ so much better.  _

With Kuroo and Kenma having gone out together, and Hinata visiting his family, it’s much quieter than Yachi is used to. Growing tired of the stifling quietness, Yachi connects her phone to the bluetooth speaker that sits on the kitchen shelf, filling the silence with some soft lo-fi beats. She quietly hums along as she wipes down the counter and puts away a few stray ingredients like the vanilla extract and baking soda. 

The music is momentarily interrupted by her phone’s timer going off, indicating the cookies are ready to come out of the oven. Yachi opens a drawer and grabs the somewhat silly cat paw-shaped oven mitts they have never taken the time to replace. 

Just as Yachi is setting the tray of cookies onto a silicone hot pad, there's a soft knock on the door. Yachi pauses her music, setting the oven mitts aside, and heads to the door. Swinging the door open, Yachi is greeted by the sight of a slightly disgruntled Kageyama. Although, slightly disgruntled is pretty close to Kageyama’s default settings. 

“Hi!” Yachi smiles, pleasantly surprised. 

“Hey,” Kageyama mumbles, blowing a strand of hair out of his face, eyes glued to the door jamb. “My sister told me to return this to you,” he thrusts forward a bundle of something wrapped delicately in soft pink fabric, a perfect knot tied at the top. 

Judging by the shape, it’s the tupperware Yachi had used to give the Kageyama’s some gingerbread cookies in December. Judging by the weight, Miwa has gifted Yachi something else as well. Of course, Miwa-san would never return a container while it’s empty, Yachi muses.

“I made cookies,” Yachi announces, before Kageyama can find an excuse to leave. “Come and have some. And also some of whatever your sister packed,” Yachi gently shakes the wrapped container. 

“I—” Kageyama looks like he’s about to say he has to go but Yachi suspects the scent of freshly baked cookies has reached his senses by now, causing him to hesitate. “You have milk, right?”

“Obviously.” 

There’s nothing as enticing as some warm chocolate chip cookies and a cold glass of 2% low-fat milk. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

It is a little funny seeing someone as tall and intimidating as Kageyama eating chocolate chip cookies and drinking milk out of a plastic cup that’s shaped like a cat paw. It makes Kageyama’s outward appearance seem almost as innocent as he is on the inside. 

Yachi silently giggles, taking a sip of her own milk to cover it up. Kageyama doesn’t seem to notice, grabbing another cookie and taking a large bite out of it. 

“I made you some blueberry cheesecake too,” Yachi remembers, standing up to grab the cake. She opens up the fridge, grabbing a cardboard box that’s neatly tied with some twine from the top shelf. Returning to her seat, she sets the box onto the table. “I was going to make pie first but I thought it was too soon,” Yachi laughs, a little nervously.

“Too soon?” Kageyama blinks, head tilted to the side. 

“Um, yeah. You know the whole—” Yachi pauses, studying the confused look on Kageyama’s face. “Wait…Did Hinata-kun not tell you?” 

“Tell me what?”

“You know...last week…” Yachi gestures vaguely, hoping to see some sort of recognition in Kageyama’s eyes. 

“Oh,” he looks down, one hand fiddling with the fibres on the string of twine. “You mean when I asked Hinata out?” 

“Yeah…” Yachi wondered if it was this awkward when Hinata was explaining to Oikawa and Atsumu. Probably not; Hinata does not often feel shame or awkwardness. “It’s not your fault though, so don’t worry about it!” Yachi adds hurriedly. “Hinata’s not gonna be mad at you or anything, he knows it wasn’t voluntary.”

Kageyama blinks a couple of times, face screwed up like he’s trying to understand something. 

“What,” he eventually says after giving up. This situation reminds Yachi of Kageyama in high school, tremendously struggling to understand English grammar until Yachi explained it to him.

Yachi takes a deep breath, preparing to slowly and carefully explain the situation to her dear friend. “Okay. Remember last week when Hinata gave you that blueberry pie?”

Kageyama nods sharply. So far, so good. Yachi smiles and continues. 

“You might have noticed you felt different after you ate it—”

“I never ate it,” Kageyama states. 

Yachi’s thoughts come to a screeching halt. “Huh?”

“I never got to eat it,” Kageyama repeats, looking a little dejected. 

“Huh?” Yachi’s hands are still frozen mid-gesture, eyes wide as saucers.

“A crow stole it,” Kageyama pouts at the memory. 

“So…” Yachi’s mind scrambles to process this new (somewhat limited) information. “You never ate the blueberry pie?” Kageyama shakes his head in confirmation of the statement.

“The blueberry pie that Hinata baked and gave to you? You never ate a single bite?” Another head shake. 

“So, you never consumed the love potion inside the pie?”

“No— wait  _ what? _ ” 

“Oh my god,” Yachi feels slightly delirious. “The crow… it  _ was _ stalking Hinata,” she whispers, an epiphany explodes like fireworks in her mind. “Kenma was right!” 

“Yachi,” Kageyama whines at her, tugging on her fingers. “I have  _ no clue _ what you’re talking about.” 

Yachi’s pulled back to reality, “Sorry, sorry!” She laughs. 

“I’ll explain everything. It’s actually pretty funny now,” she pauses, taking a sip of her milk. And then one last epiphany-firework goes off in her head and she’s choking on her milk. 

“Oh my god,” she chokes out in a hoarse voice; Kageyama wacks her back. Yachi sucks in a breath, air finally making it into her lungs. She looks up at a concerned-looking Kageyama and latches onto his shoulders. 

“You asked Hinata-kun out.”

“Yeah, I know…”

“Like for  _ real _ . You like Hinata-kun  _ for real _ .” Kageyama flushes and looks away, glaring out the window with earnestness. That’s all the confirmation Yachi needs at this point. 

The gears in Yachi’s mind are going in overdrive, thinking and rethinking. Kageyama finishes off his cookies and milk, the blush never quite fading from his cheeks. Their afternoon snack time comes to an end and Kageyama heads out before the others return. 

Unable to keep this information to herself, Yachi drags Kenma to her room as soon as he returns and blurts everything out like a mad scientist explaining some crazy breakthrough. 

“Holy shit,” Kenma whispers, half deadpan, half actual shock. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Kuroo shoots Yachi an inquisitive look when he sees Kenma standing on the balcony and shouting at the sky. 

“You stupid crow! You absolute  _ clown! _ Never show your face here again. You hear me, crow?!”

Yachi has no valid explanation and decides to leave that whole mess to Kuroo to deal with. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗ 

Life eases back to normal fairly smoothly. Kuroo bugs Kenma, Kenma takes naps, Hinata is exuberant as ever, and Yachi… Yachi overthinks the same as ever. 

She feels like the prisoner in Plato’s cave, eyes having been exposed to the bright truth, unable to go back to how they were before. 

“How many times are you gonna sigh?” Kenma yawns, stretching his back out in a way that’s thoroughly cat-like. He relaxes, resting his head on his forearms and basking in the rays of the pale midday sun. The days have gotten so cold, so quickly; sunlight only lasts for a few hours now and Kenma likes to make the most of it. 

“I’m just thinking,” Yachi tries not to sigh  _ again _ . She kicks her feet back and forth, mimicking Kenma’s posture. The two of them sit at the bar counter, lazily sipping on some milk tea. 

“If only that darned love potion never existed! Kageyama-kun and Hinata-kun could have been together, right now.”

“Mm,” Kenma purrs, closing his eyes. 

“They’d be so happy together!” 

“Uh-huh.”

“We should get them together,” Yachi decides, cupping his fist against her palm with determination. 

“Good luck,” Kenma mumbles. 

“You’re gonna help me!” Yachi smiles at Kenma. Kenma cracks open an eye and looks up at Yachi’s eager and genuine face. 

“Do I have to?” 

“Consider it as part of our atonement.”

“Ugh, what do I have to do?” Kenma sits up a bit, resigning himself to his fate. 

“Not much,” Yachi hums. “Mostly just moral support.” 

“That’s too much work.”

“ _ Kenmaaa… _ ”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be gross and optimistic for you. I won’t like it though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter to go! 
> 
> comments/kudos very appreciated!
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/petiteshoyo)


	4. Yachi and Kenma’s Magical Matchmaking Mayhem: Happily Ever After?

“Okay…” Yachi exhales, pinning the last fairy light in place. Her arms are a little sore from the lack of blood circulation but the place looks great. She hops off her step stool and surveys the room hands on her hips as she nods approvingly. 

A copious number of glittery fairy lights, floral-scented candles, a very warm throw blanket draped across the sofa cushions. The living room is looking perfectly romantic, just as Yachi had been hoping it would. 

All that’s left is to get Hinata and Kageyama up here. 

“Status update?” Yachi turns around to face Kenma. 

“Shoyo’s shift ends in fifteen minutes,” Kenma says, eyes focused on his phone. 

Yachi pulls out her own phone and checks her messages, “Kageyama-kun will be here in around twenty minutes.” The promise of some Korean BBQ pork was more than enough to have Kageyama rushing over. 

“Okay. So Hinata-kun will come back upstairs up here first. And then Kageyama-kun will pick up the food and come over too and then...magic time!” Yachi claps, excitement shining in her eyes like little stars. 

“I know,” Kenma rolls his eyes with a fond smile, “I  _ did  _ read your colour-coordinated flowcharts.” 

“I was being thorough!” Yachi defends. She links her arm with Kenma as the two of them head downstairs now that the room is ready for their plan to commence. “Organization is key to limiting error!”

“We’re locking our friends together against their will, not writing a 10-page essay. Relax, would ya?” 

“I’m just excited!” Yachi can’t stop the skip in her step as the two of them descend down the stairs. “This is gonna work out great!” 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

The plan is, overall, fairly simple. Yachi is pretty sure anything more complex would just go awry due to Hinata’s and Kageyama’s innate denseness. 

So, the plan has 4 parts: 1) a romantic atmosphere that is supplemented with 2) some mouth-watering food (thank you, Osamu-kun!), and 3) barricaded with some hijinks magic Noya-senpai taught her so that 4) Hinata and Kageyama are stuck together and inevitably realize they’re both in love with each other and get together and live happily ever after forever and forever. 

“Woah, there,” Kenma stops Yachi’s romanticized imagination. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is a very good chance that the night ends with the two of them strangling each other with fairy lights.”

“Don’t be such a downer!” Yachi continues to highlight and colour-code her flowchart. “Of course it’s going to end well. It’s true love! The pretty fortune-teller nee-san down the street even said so!” 

“Lev’s  _ sister? _ ” Kenma scoffs. “She once told me  _ Kuroo and I _ were meant to be.  _ Gross _ .”

“...You’re...you  _ are _ dating Kuroo though…” Yachi blinks. 

“I don’t see your point here,” Kenma shrugs. 

Yachi shakes her head,  _ moving on _ , “She’s really an expert in love fortunes, though. Tanaka-san and Kiyoko-senpai got together after he went to see her!” 

“I think you’ll just believe anything a pretty girl says.”

Yachi, without any form of defence against that statement, goes back to her flowchart, circling the words  _ happily ever after _ . She has a good feeling about this. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Hinata arrives first, having just returned from his evening shift, the scent of vanilla and brown sugar lingering on his skin and clothes. 

“Wah, I’m starving!” Hinata announces, stretching his arms over his head as he pads into the kitchen area. “Woah, what’s with the candles and lights?” Hinata glances around the living area. Sure enough, it’s filled with scented candles, fairy lights, and an abundance of pretty flowers. 

“Kuroo did it,” Yachi lies, “To woo Kenma, haha…”  _ Sorry Kenma. _

“Oh, gross. Should we eat out? We can stay the night at my mom’s if… _ you know _ ...” Hinata glances suspiciously towards Kuroo’s room. 

“No,” Yachi says, maybe a little too forcefully. “They decided to go out instead. Plus, I already ordered some takeout,” Yachi says. She’s turned away, her back facing Hinata. While she’s confident this plan is foolproof, Yachi’s well aware of her inability to keep a straight face in these types of situations. 

_ Calm and aloof _ , Kenma and told her. Don’t over-explain anything and stay calm. Easy-peasy. 

Her phone buzzes; a text from Kenma confirming that Kageyama has entered the bakery, food in hand.

“It should be here soon, why don’t you go wash up?” Yachi suggests to Hinata, pretending to busy herself with getting plates and cutlery ready. 

“Okie dokie!” Hinata hums, skipping away to his bedroom. As soon as Yachi hears Hinata’s door closes, she launches herself out of the kitchen area, pushing open the front door. With the door open and wand in hand, she begins casting the spell; a faint yellow glow encases the door jamb and then quickly fades away. 

Just in time too, seeing as Kageyama appears at the top of the steps to her left, waving hello. 

“Ah, you’re here!” Yachi hides her wand up her sleeve. “Thanks for grabbing the food.”

“What are you doing out here?” Kageyama asks, head cocked to the side.

“I— uh, was about to go get Kenma! He’s sleeping downstairs,” Yachi explains in a hurry. “So, I will go get him. Now. Since that’s what I was about to do. You head inside while then,” Yachi gestures. 

“Kay,” Kageyama shrugs. Just when he’s about the step past her into the apartment, Yachi grabs his wrist.    


“Wait!” 

“What?” Kageyama blinks, surprised by her quick reflexes. 

Yachi squints up at Kageyama, assessing his current state. She reaches up, as far as her tippy toes will allow her, and smooths out Kageyama’s hair, parting his bangs a bit more. She adjusts the collar of his denim jacket, fixing the cuffs. Lastly, she pinches his cheeks, bringing a faint pink flush to them. 

“Ow!” Kageyama scowls. 

“All done, hehe,” Yachi smiles, pleased. “Go on,” she shoos him towards the door. “I’ll be back!” Yachi waves, pulling the door closed behind her. The brief glimmer of light along the edges of the frame let her know the spell is now set in motion. As are her plans for Kageyama and Hinata.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Eavesdropping was not part of her plan. Yachi already felt she was toeing the line between being a helpful friend and overstepping personal boundaries. So, after she’s certain Kageyama and Hinata weren’t going anywhere, Yachi heads downstairs to update Kenma on the plan. 

“They’ll be fine up there, right?” Yachi asks aloud. Kenma’s response is to nudge at her hand with his tiny little feline head, demanding more scratches behind his ear. 

“It’s not like anything bad will happen. I mean, they’re still best friends, even if they fight all the time. But it’s not  _ fighting _ fighting. Just bickering. And they obviously like each other, right?”

Kenma stretches, his tail swishing in the air. 

“Maybe I should check on them?” Yachi bites her lip. “What if they aren’t even talking? What if they just started eating? No, no. I lit so many candles. And I left roses. Even those two can’t be oblivious to that kind of atmosphere. Right?” 

Kenma curls up on the bar counter and closes his eyes. 

Yachi huffs, resisting the urge to jab her familiar. 

“I’ll just check on them. Quickly. Just to be sure,” Yachi nods, standing up with purpose.

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

After creeping up the stairs as quietly as possible, Yachi presses her ear against the door, hoping to listen in. The thick wood of the door is making it hard to hear anything though. She can’t hear anything really; no voices. No yelling though, which is a good sign, she supposes.

Yachi sighs, digging her phone out of her pocket. She scrolls through her spell notes until she finds a sound amplification spell. Pressing her palm against the door, Yachi whispers the incantation and the door glows a soft pink for a couple of seconds. Pressing her ear against the door again, Yachi is pleased when she can make out Hinata’s and Kageyama’s voices much more clearly.

“—told me about the love potion,” Yachi catches the latter part of Kageyama’s sentence.

“Oh, that!” Hinata’s nervous laughter filters into Yachi’s right ear. “You’re not mad, right? It was an accident Yamayama-kun!”

“I’m not mad,” Kageyama grumbles. “Not like I ate that damn pie, anyway.”

“Huh!?” 

“I didn’t eat it, a crow stole it!” Kageyama grouches, likely tired of having to tell the same story again. 

“Wait…so that means that day you were  _ really _ asking—”

“Shut up, dumbass! Just forget—” 

“Ask me again.” Hinata’s voice is clear and demanding. 

“What?”

“Ask me again. Right now.”

Yachi scoots even closer to the door, heart beating in anticipation. 

“I... do you, um, would you—” Kageyama’s words are cut off by a loud crash followed by Hinata and Kageyama screaming in harmony. 

Yachi stands up, alarmed. She waves a hand, undoing the locking spell and bursts into the living room. Hinata clings onto Kageyama’s arm, eyes wide with fright and shock. 

“Are you okay?” Yachi looks around the room frantically. Kageyama and Hinata both silently nod, eyes glued to the balcony window. Yachi looks over and illuminated by the balcony light is a body hanging from the railing, dark hair falling over their face in a horror movie-esque manner. 

The body lets out a soft groan, pulling themselves over the rail and collapsing to the ground in a heap of loose limbs. 

“What is that?” Yachi asks nervously and creeps closer to Kageyama and Hinata.

The body awkwardly stands up and takes sluggish steps towards the glass sliding door, only to walk right into it. All three of them flinch at the  _ thud _ . The body groans some more. 

Kageyama cautiously approaches the window, Hinata peeking out from behind him. Yachi follows suit, clinging onto Kageyama’s other arm. 

“Please don’t be a zombie, please don’t be a zombie…” Hinata whispers, biting his lip. Nervous energy surrounds him but Yachi is sure she’s not faring any better.

“Shut up, you idiot,” Kageyama whispers harshly, but Yachi can feel his pulse accelerating from where her fingers close around his wrist. 

Kageyama slides open the door slowly, careful of the limp body swaying right outside of it. 

“Hello?” Yachi forces out, her voice weak and choked. “Zombie-san?” 

“Yo…” The three of them screech, stumbling backwards and away from the possible-zombie’s raised hand. 

“Ugh, where’s Akaashi?” The figure moans, leaning against the door jamb. 

“Akaashi-san?” Yachi pauses her freak out, blinking in confusion. She creeps closer, trying to get a better look at the pale figure. “Yukie-chan?” 

“Yacchan!” Yukie lifts her head, brushing her hair out of her face, and smiles sleepily at Yachi. “Wait,” the brunette frowns, “This isn’t Bokuto and Akaashi’s apartment…”

Hinata shakes his head, “They live three buildings down.”

“Oh. My bad.”

“It’s okay!” Yachi smiles, simply relieved that it’s just a sleepy Yukie and not a zombie trying to eat their brains. 

“All the buildings look the same at night,” Yukie sighs.

“Can’t vampires see in the dark?” Hinata asks. 

“Evidently not,” Yukie yawns. “Hey, scaling that wall was kinda tiring. Can I borrow your front door?” 

“Of course, come in!” Yachi welcomes the vampire, allowing her to finally enter. 

“Thanks,” Yukie enters the threshold and bends down and tugs her boots off, hugging them against her chest as she wanders deeper into the room. “I know it’s after business hours but can I get some bread while I’m here?”

“Sure, what kind?” Yachi smiles, leading Yukie out. 

“Do you have any cheese bread? That stuff tastes amazing dipped in oxblood.”

“Um, I think we have some downstairs,” Yachi tries not to grimace, ignoring the twin faces of disgust Hinata and Kageyama make at each other. 

“You’re the best Yacchan,” Yukie pats a cold hand against Yachi’s cheek. “I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?” 

Yachi looks over her shoulder; Hinata’s still grabbing onto Kageyama’s arm and as Yachi’s eyes trail downwards she sees their fingers interlocked. The two whisper to each other, Kageyama bending down slightly, a sorta smile on his face, as Hinata says something into his ear.

“No, Yukie-chan. I don’t think you did.” Yachi closes the door behind them and walks down the stairs with Yukie. Sometimes when you leave things alone, they just fall into place naturally, after all. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

Breakfast the next morning is something of an affair. 

Yachi makes Belgian waffles that are perfectly crisp on the outside and nice on fluffy on the inside. She slices some strawberries and bananas and grabs some whipped cream and maple syrup, setting all the toppings on the kitchen table. 

Kuroo and Kenma are already seated; Kenma desperately reaches for his Nintendo Switch, trying to get it back from Kuroo, and almost falling off his seat in the process.

“Breakfast first,” Kuroo reprimands, flicking Kenma on the nose. Kenma wrinkles his nose, clearly not liking this scenario but also not having limbs long enough to do anything about it. Kuroo ignores him though and stacks two waffle quarters onto Kenma’s plate, dousing them with maple syrup and bananas before handing Kenma a fork. 

“Good morning!” Hinata skips over, hair bouncing with every hop. A half-awake Kageyama trails after him, running a hand through his hair and mussing up his bangs. 

“Ohoho, I  _ bet _ it is—mmhrph!” Before Kuroo can finish his sentence, Kenma shovels a rather large forkful of banana and waffle into Kuroo’s mouth, cutting him off. 

“Don’t choke,” Kenma says, pushing a glass of milk towards Kuroo and patting his back. 

“Waffles!” Hinata cheers, either oblivious or desensitized to Kenma and Kuroo’s antics. He takes the seat next to Yachi and Kageyama takes the one next to Hinata. “Thank you for the food!” 

Kageyama mumbles his own thank you as he reaches for his utensils. 

Kuroo, after gulping down some milk, speaks again, “Bokuto told me Yukie almost broke in last night. She didn’t break anything, did she?”

“No, but there are some hand-shaped dents on the balcony railing now,” Yachi giggles.

“Stupid vampires,” Kuroo grumbles. “That girl’s a hazard to society.” 

“Being so strong must be amazing, though. Being a vampire sounds so cool!” Hinata gushes. 

“But you’d have to drink blood,” Kageyama points out.

“It doesn’t  _ have _ to be human blood, though. Animal blood is fine. It’d be like eating some rare steak.”

“You hate rare steak,” Kenma points out. “Also, you’d have to avoid the sun as much as possible.”

“I could be nocturnal!” Hinata defends himself.

“Your name literally means  _ sun _ ,” Kageyama scoffs. 

“That’s irrelevant!”

“Face it, you’d be the worst vampire in existence,” Kageyama says bluntly. 

“Would not!” Hinata pouts. 

“Would too.”

“Please don’t turn into a vampire to prove a point,” Yachi grimaces, wary of the determination in Hinata’s eyes. 

“Quit being so mean,” Hinata huffs, “You’re supposed to be nice to me now that—”

“Now that  _ what?” _ Kageyama challenges, taking a bite of his waffle. Hinata flushes and turns away from Kageyama, muttering his complaints under his breath with a pout. 

The table is then quiet except for the clanking of utensils. Yachi catches Kuroo and Kenma’s eyes, both of them sporting amused smiles.

“How’s breakfast?” Yachi asks, trying not to laugh as well.

“Good!”

“It’s good.”

“You make the best waffles, Yachi!”

“Can I have mackerel with mine?”

“Ew, don’t be gross, Kenma!” 

“Sometimes I forget you’re a cat…”

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Yachi, make them stop,” Kenma scrunches his face up in disgust. Yachi follows his gaze over to the bar counter where Kageyama and Hinata sit, sharing a large vanilla milkshake. Hinata looks like he’s comparing his hand to Kageyama’s, lining them up before locking their fingers together with a bright smile. 

“Leave them be. They’re happy!” Yachi laughs as she wipes down the display glass, ridding it of any smudges or fingerprints. 

Kenma sighs, hopping up onto the counter as he re-ties his hair into a high ponytail, some of the shorter strands spiking up a little. “Life’s so boring now,” he huffs. 

“Maybe go do your job every once in a while,” Kuroo retorts. He presses his cold hands to the back of Kenma’s exposed neck as he passes by, causing Kenma to hiss. Kuroo laughs at Kenma’s unamused glare, offering to fix his hair for him as an apology. 

As Yachi continues to clean off the tables and counters, she pauses. Over at the bar, Kageyama and Hinata are engaged in a heated staring contest, all fond smiles and honey-sweet gazes. At the front counter, Kuroo is delicately braiding Kenma’s hair, pulling the thin braid and a few loose strands up into a ponytail, Kenma leaning back into his touch.

They’re both romantic sights, happy and loving couples. Yet, something feels amiss. 

“Hey!” Yachi throws her damp rags at the table, causing the other four occupants to look up at her, with startled confusion. “Why am I the only one working right now?” 

Yachi grabs her rag again, huffing at the sheepish looks she receives. 

Perhaps their bakery gaining another couple was not the wisest decision. 

˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗

“Turning into a cat so no one tries to talk to you?” Yachi coos, scratching Kenma behind the ear. The small cat blinks lazily at her, walking away with a squish of his tail, probably to go find an empty flower pot to nap in. 

Yachi shakes her and continues to make her way towards the bar. It’s gotten cold rather quickly; wet snow falls from the sky outside, the clouds above a murky grey. Yachi grabs the milk frother and starts making some hot chocolate. 

Over the whirring of the steaming milk, loud voices and happy laughter echo throughout the bakery. The seating area, slightly out of view behind her, is populated with her dear friends, tables pushed together, an abundant amount of snacks and sweets to keep everyone happy. 

Yachi takes a moment to stretch out her sore back muscles, reaching her arms high above her head before relaxing. When the hot chocolate is done, she evenly distributes it into five ceramic mugs, topping them off with marshmallow, whipped cream, and minuscule shavings of milk chocolate. Yachi grabs the tray of hot chocolate and heads back out to the festivities. 

“—I’m  _ just saying _ , if it were real…I’d win,” Yachi returns to the tables just in time to catch the tail-end of Oikawa’s sentence, his hand resting on his chest as he solemnly nods.

“Oh,  _ please _ ,” Atsumu scoffs. “Shoyo-kun likes me  _ way _ more than you.” 

“Oh, goodness,” Yachi sighs, handing a very amused Sugawara his hot chocolate. “You enabled this, didn’t you?” She shoots her senpai a suspicious glance. 

“ _ Me?  _ Cause a spectacle such as this?  _ Never, _ ” Sugawara grins, scooping some whipped cream up with his pinky and popping it into his mouth. 

“Iwa-chan! Tell this  _ hobgoblin _ how devastatingly charming I am!” Yachi looks over to a very drained Iwaizumi. She silently hands him the mug with the most marshmallows; anyone who puts up with Oikawa on a regular basis deserves some more mini marshmallows. 

“You’re about as charming as a goddamn  _ banshee _ ,” Iwaizumi grumbles, slumping lower into his seat. 

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa screeches. 

“I see the banshee resemblance,” Osamu nods, taking a bite out of a heart-shaped sugar cookie. “Uncanny.”

“See, see! ‘Samu agrees that I’m  _ clearly _ the better candidate,” Atsumu crosses his arms over his chest.

“No, I don’t. You’re trash too,” Osamu deadpans. “Shoyo-kun was smart to choose Tobio-kun over both you doorknobs.” 

“‘Samu!” Atsumu smacks his brother’s sugar cookie to the ground. Osamu stares at the broken cookie on the floor with sad, mildly distraught eyes. Yachi slides the plate of remaining sugar cookies closer to him. 

“They’re not bothering you, are they?” Yachi asks after she sets down two mugs in front of Kageyama and Hinata, turning the handles so the mugs can easily be grabbed. 

“Not really! This is kinda exactly how I imagined it to go if Atsumu-kun and Oikawa-san ever met,” Hinata chirps, cupping his mug with both hands. Kageyama simply shrugs noncommittally, grabbing a Pirouline stick to dip into his hot chocolate. Grabbing the last mug for herself, Yachi sets the tray aside and takes a seat next to Hinata. 

“Look. I’ve done the math,” Atsumu continues with a surprising amount of solemnity, “Shoyo-kun likes Tobio-kun, obviously. And you,” he points a finger at Oikawa, “ _ hate _ Tobio-kun. And since I  _ don’t _ hate Tobio-kun, that obviously makes me the more appealing choice.”

“In  _ what _ world? And how is Tobio-chan relevant at all?” Oikawa rolls his eyes, grabbing a pistachio biscotti. 

“Getting with you, a known Toibo-hater, would just be disrespectful to his memory,” Atsumu explains.

“His memory? Is Kageyama dead in this scenario?” Ushijima asks Iwaizumi. 

“That’s dark,” Kuroo whistles. 

“I’m sitting right here, you know?” Kageyama grumbles.

“Hush now, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa reprimands, waving a hand in his direction. 

Oikawa and Atsumu continue to bicker; Oikawa being genuinely invested in the debate, while Atsumu seems to just be arguing for argument's sake. Or maybe just to annoy Oikawa. 

“How lively,” Sugawara hums, leaning across the table to grab a sugar cookie.

“It’s too loud,” a disgruntled Kenma reappears, pulling out the seat next in between Kuroo and Suga. 

“Guess you have no choice but to join the festivities,” Kuroo grins, throwing an arm around Kenma’s shoulders. 

“Yacchan, how the heck do ya put up with all this every day?” Osamu asks. 

“Mmm... practice?” Yachi smiles.

“Huh? I’ve had over two decades of practice with that dummy and I still wanna throttle him every time he opens his mouth,” Osamu leans back in his seat, making a face at Atsumu who pays him no attention.

“I hear ya,” Iwaizumi grumbles, jerking his head out of the way to avoid being smacked by a wildly gesticulating Oikawa. 

“As, uh,  _ stimulating _ as this debate is,” Kuroo interjects before the argument can escalate to a food-fight, or maybe even a fist-fight, “You guys are bringing down the vibe. You’ll ruin all of Yachi’s hard work!” He gestures to the plates of food and dessert, along with the winter-themed decor that hangs about the foyer. 

“Yachi, you really did go all out!” Sugawara praises, eyes taking in the sparkling snowflakes that descend from the ceiling and the winter berries that sit upon the shelves. 

“What’s the occasion, though?” Ushijima asks. 

“Well,” Yachi sits up straighter, “I have something to announce.”

“You’re pregnant,” Kenma accuses.

“No. I’m not pregnant,” Yachi closes her eyes, sighing, “Please stop guessing that every time I say I have an announcement.” 

“What is it, what is it, what is it?” Hinata urges, shaking her arm, excitement shining in his eyes. 

“You already know,” Yachi laughs, “I told you yesterday.” 

“Oh yeah!” Hinata’s eyes light up in remembrance. 

“How come you didn’t tell me?” Kenma raises an eyebrow, squinting at Yachi.

“I  _ did _ tell you. Like a week ago,” Yachi blinks. 

“Oh yeah,” Kenma says, eyes looking far away as he remembers. 

“What’s the announcement?” Osamu presses on. 

“Right,” Yachi takes a breath, “I am going on a trip. A witch expedition to be exact.”

“Where?”

“Are you leaving the country?”

“For how long?”

“Not for too long?”

“Who’s gonna make cake for us, now?” 

Yachi smiles nervously as the boys around her continue to bombard her with questions. 

“I  _ think _ ,” Sugawara interrupts, with a pointed smile, “what you all mean to say is  _ congratulations, Yachi; we’ll miss you, Yachi; have a good trip, Yachi... _ ” 

“I’ll miss you so much! You have to promise to come back!” Hinata cries, hugging her arm. 

“It’s a studying expedition, I’m not leaving forever,” Yachi pats his hand. “Or even leaving the country, for that matter. I’ll be travelling all over Japan learning more about potions and food magic.” 

“You better bring us back souvenirs,” Kuroo says. 

“Send us post-cards too!” 

“We’ll miss you!”

“And your baking.”

“What’s gonna happen to the bakery while you’re gone? No offence, but Yacchan is clearly the only reason this place is still afloat.” 

“We’ll close until Yachi comes back,” Kenma says firmly. 

“ _ No _ ,” Kuroo covers Kenma’s mouth. “We’ll have to hire a replacement. Although, no one will be as good as Yachi.  _ You _ , on the other hand,” Kuroo removes his hand, staring down at Kenma, “are possibly the most easily replaceable employee in existence.” 

“I am a distinguished component of this establishment,” Kenma argues. “Yachi, take me with you, I can’t stand the disrespect here.”

“You literally  _ have _ to come with me. You’re my familiar.” 

“Oh yeah.” 

The night continues, full of laughter and loud voices and happy smiles. Tomorrow, Yachi will have to set off on her journey, with nothing but the scenery and Kenma to keep her company. She’ll probably worry about if she packed everything or if she’s headed the right way and be nervous about meeting new people and trying new things. She’ll worry about a million little things because that’s just who Yachi is. Still, Kenma will be with her and her friends will be waiting for her back home. And that’s enough to give her strength to keep moving forward, she’s sure. 

But those are worries for tomorrow. For now, Yachi can lean back and enjoy the company around her, smiling until her cheeks are sore and the sun is beginning to rise. 

_ The End! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all done!! thank you so much to everyone who left comments and kudos, and read all the way to the end, i hope you guys enjoyed this silly little story. this was really fun to write and i'm so glad i participated in the hqbb. 
> 
> thank you so much & let me know your thoughts!! 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/petiteshoyo)


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